Today's Seattle Times newspaper, Sunday, May 31, 2009 edition presented an intriguing story on a Supreme Court ruling that could send Districts into a financial frenzy. The case featured an issue on whether Districts would have to reimburse parents for their student's private school tuition.
Tamar Lewin, writer for The New York Times, produced an article in today's, Seattle Times newspaper @ www.seattletimes.com that headlined "High court to weigh special-ed case," in which the Supreme Court will rule on the argument of whether public schools should provide private school reimbursement for an Oregon student's private tuition.
The case and its subsequent outcome involve high drama, intrigue and money. In this ruling are the makings of a television movie of the week or a best-seller book of the month. The case before the courts involves a student with a drug issue who was enrolled in a private residential school that came with a high price tag in the thousands of dollars a month. Lewin's article presents the lawyer's argument as "the law must allow such reimbursement, even for children who were never in special education..." (www.seattletimes.com A-6, May 31, 2009). IDEA purports that students with disabilities are provided with a free appropriate education, but in this case the student was not a designated special education student, but according to school staff, the student was presenting behavioral problems that warranted further investigation that allegedly never happened.
The issue before the courts was whether the student's parent had the right to seek private school tuition without public school permission or input. The questions inherent in this case are numerous, but the core issue is how will educational equity and access be provided for the Oregon student and other students who present disabilities that are not covered under IDEA eligibility for special education services in public school settings. As the courts continue to provide a legal answer to the issue, Districts are looking at diminished financial bank accounts as they struggle to provide a comprehensive education for all regular education students and special education students in public school classrooms.
As an educator serving in one of those Districts, I am waiting to see Tamar Lewin's article become the next best-seller movie or book that promises to have a nail-biting ending that will leave school Districts sitting on the edge of their seats awaiting the ruling and adding overdraft protection on their banking accounts from their allocated legislative funding deposits.