Morning Shots

{Scene opens to a packed chamber of the British Parliament for Eduwonk Question Time. A number of studies anxiously await the chance to pose a question to the Eduwonk.}

Mr. Speaker: “Questions to the Eduwonk- Chapter 10 of Rethinking Special Education-Nasty Brutish…and Often Not Very Short: The Attorney Perspective on Due Process”

Nasty, Brutish, etc: “Number 1 Mr. Speaker!”

{Eduwonk rises from the bench, places a book on the dispatch box, and answers}

Eduwonk: “This morning I presided over a meeting of the Education Sector Staff and blogged like mad. In addition to my duties in this House, I shall be having further meetings later today.”

Speaker: “Chapter 10!”

Chapter 10: “Thank you Mr. Speaker. Does the Eduwonk recall editing me? Isn’t it odd for him to claim that the process of some special needs children attending private schools through the legalistic process is adequate when we described the process that can lead to such placements as “blunt, costly, time-consuming, and otherwise imperfect instrument to accomplish its assigned task” in 2001? Does he recall the part where we concluded “The current due process regime is very complex and technical, and thus difficult (if not nearly impossible) for parents to navigate successfully without legal representation or well-trained parent advocates?”

Eduwonk: “It is the position of this blog not to support school vouchers for disabled children unless they can sue their way out of the system. School officials know best about these sort of things, and if they do not, you can attend a school of choice after proving malpractice with a fancy attorney. Can’t afford one of those, well, tough!”

{Backbenchers grumble, the opposition sits with jaws agape in stunned silence}

Speaker: “Chapter 13 of Rethinking Special Education!”

Imagine, if you will, that you have a child in your local city or county’s public school system and your government pays all of the costs associated with your child’s education. Let’s say your child is your typical third grader and does relatively well in his standard academic courses – reading and writing, arithmetic, science. He’s consistently brought home A’s with a rare B every once in a while and you are quite proud of him.

But then the day comes when he is to enter the fourth grade and you get a letter from your local school that your son will be transferred to a different school. A school much farther away from home and one that specializes in “at risk” children.

“At risk children?” you ask your self, knowing full-well that your son is the exceptional student. Smart. Honest. Well behaved. Always does his homework. Never missed a day of school.

So you go to your local school and ask to meet with his administrator.

“Surely there must be some mistake” you say to the administrator. “My son is a great student. Straight A’s. Never sent to the principal’s office. Never absent.”

The school administrator looks at you straight in the eyes with a serious frown. He pulls out a thick file, tosses it atop his desk and opens it.

He begins sifting through pages and you notice that he is going through your sons school file. The file seems pretty thick for a third grader.

“It must be a mistake,” you repeat to the administrator. “These things happen sometimes. My son is…”

“It is not a mistake,” the school administrator interrupts. “Your son has been found to be a troublemaker.” He is quite stern in his response.

“My son is nothing of the sort,” your voice raises a decibel or two. “He is the

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With the application deadline fast approaching, 561 students, 1.2% of those eligible, have signed up for the new statewide EdChoice school voucher program.

Despite this slow start, there is good reason to believe that this voucher program can fulfill its promise of offering true education choice to those who need it most. When these early participation numbers are placed in the context of other successful voucher programs around the country it becomes clear that EdChoice is setting off on a path that is remarkably similar.

The first year participation rates for some of the largest and best-known voucher programs around the country provide some context.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the first year of their voucher program had 341 participants, which was 0.7% of all eligible students. Now, there are 15,035 participants, 20.5% of all eligible students.

In Florida, the McKay voucher program for special education students, currently the largest voucher program in the country, had 977 participants in its first year of existence, a utilization rate of 0.3% of all eligible students. Today, the program serves 15,910 students, 4.3% of all eligible students.

The new voucher program in our nation’s capital, which just finished its first year, had 1,015 participants, which amounted to 1.7% of those eligible to participate in the program.

With state education officials expecting a rush of last minute applications, it appears likely that the Ohio EdChoice program will have a larger percentage of eligible students participating in its first year than any of these programs. And the experience from other voucher programs tells us that these numbers will likely grow in the coming years.

But there are several barriers to participation that have come to light in the course of implementing EdChoice that need to be addressed before the next application season if such growth is going to be realized.

The Cleveland voucher

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