Is California’s public education system working for students with disabilities? No, and it is past time for California to implement private school choice for students with disabilities so that their families can choose the best educational path for them.
A recent civil‐rights lawsuit filed by the Berkeley‐based Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) agrees that students with disabilities (SWD) are not being fairly treated. In July, California legislators passed AB 130, allowing all public‐school students to enroll in independent study, in part to accommodate desires for distance learning during COVID-19. Unfortunately, choosing to enroll in independent study is bogged down with red tape for SWDs who have individualized education programs (IEP) under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
DREDF’s lawsuit tells the sad stories of a nine‐year‐old and six‐year‐old who have both suffered significant time delays accessing crucial independent learning as their school districts went through the bureaucratic machinations needed to finalize their IEPs. And even when that was complete, they were told that they would not receive their request to include distance learning.
California’s AB 130 states, “A SWD must have an Individualized Education Program (IEP) that specifically provides for participation in independent study prior to participation.” If the IEP isn’t adjusted or finalized to be “specific,” students risk being caught in limbo. Of course, delays harm students; at the time of the suit, both children had been out of school for a month.
IEPs, while well‐intentioned, too often translate into red tape and legal battles. A headline in the Atlantic dubbed them “one of the greatest pitfalls of the country’s school system.”
School choice is the solution to the problem of bureaucratic blockades, empowering parents to directly seek what they think their children need.
There are sixteen school choice programs across the nation that are specifically for SWDs. The oldest, Florida’s John M. McKay Scholarship, has reported very strong support from participants. One study found that 86 percent of respondents said their chosen school provided all promised educational services, compared to a measly 30 percent for public schools. Another study showed that 90 percent of McKay respondents “were satisfied or very satisfied with the school their child attends,” compared to only 71 percent of public school respondents saying the same. Demand for SWD school choice continues to be high; for example, enrollment in Wisconsin’s Special Needs Scholarship program has nearly doubled in the last two years.
These results aren’t surprising; parents know that their children have individualized needs that huge, bureaucratic government systems are not set up to meet. As Inez Feltscher Stepman describes in Chapter 11 of School Choice Myths, “It’s a deep misalignment between a class of students who are in desperate need of flexibility, multiple options, and personal evaluation, and a system that is set up to provide none of those things.”
DREDF’s lawsuit highlights that California’s public education system risks leaving students behind. Letting parents choose, not subjecting them to government control, is the way forward.
