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School Choice


ARIZONA'S BATTLE AGAINST SCHOOL CHOICE FOR SPECIAL NEEDS


STATE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS DEPLOY SCARE TACTICS AGAINST FAMILIES OF SPECIAL
NEEDS STUDENTS SEEKING ALTERNATIVES.

Aaron Garth Smith | 4.10.2024 4:40 PM

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(Alexandra Buxbaum/Sipa USA/Newscom)

School choice opponents warn that students with disabilities lose their federal
protections when they enroll in private schools. "It's important for Arizona
families to be aware of the rights they give up when they leave the public
school system," said the state's Attorney General Kris Mayes. But the latest
special education scandal casts further doubt on whether these rights help some
parents at all. The details reported by The Arizona Republic are chilling and
the district's response is infuriating.

"This child has been through hell," said Sandy Zelenka, recounting how her
autistic second grader, Levi, was treated by Peoria Unified School District's
autism program before transferring to a private school in 2020. Levi was
restrained for long periods in an unfurnished closet-sized room until Zelenka
was alerted by an assistant.

Six other families have come forward to The Arizona Republic with more recent
allegations, including unexplained physical markings such as a black eye,
bruising, and a bloody cut. They demanded answers but were stonewalled by
district officials, who deny any abuse or mishandling by employees.

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But school employees said "children are not safe in the program, and problems
have been long-standing," The Arizona Republic reported. They also accuse the
district of concealing records from parents.

Two of the families have already switched their kids to private schools and can
use Arizona's Empowerment Scholarship Accounts (ESA) to help pay for tuition and
other services. Under the program, students with disabilities get extra funding
based on their needs.

While school choice opponents boast of robust federal protections, the reality
for students in Peoria Unified—and public schools across the country—is much
different.  

The federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees a free
and appropriate public education for students with disabilities. When it was
first signed into law in 1975 (then known as the Education for All Handicapped
Children Act), public schools routinely discriminated against disabled students.

IDEA requires schools to develop an Individualized Education Program (IEP) in
consultation with parents that describes a student's needs, sets goals, and
establishes what services the school will provide. However, school officials
have the final say over what's included in an IEP, and their incentive—to comply
with federal mandates at the lowest possible cost—is at odds with parents'
desire to get the best education possible.

Parents also have little recourse if they don't agree with an IEP's provisions
or how it's carried out by the school. They can either use IDEA's due process
procedures to get an administrative hearing—which can be time-consuming and
costly—or enroll their child in a private school and sue the school district for
reimbursement, which has financial risks and upfront costs that many can't
afford.

Suffice it to say the entire special education apparatus is rigged against
students. IDEA only provides accountability if parents have the time, financial
means, and doggedness to navigate a highly bureaucratic system that's tilted
against them. But even then, nothing is guaranteed—California's Irvine Unified
School District spent over $1 million in legal fees fighting a single family
just to make a point to other parents.



In 2021–2022, parents made 10,806 mediation requests and filed 35,650 complaints
against public schools nationwide, indicating that many families aren't
satisfied with their special education services. Private school choice programs
in states such as Arizona, Florida, and Indiana allow parents to opt out of this
byzantine system altogether, and it's working: There are now at least 137,000
students with disabilities in the U.S.—including over 10,000 in Arizona's ESA
program—using school choice to access options that better fit their needs.

There are many bad arguments against school choice, but fear-mongering about
students losing their federal protections is the most ridiculous. Special
education is terribly broken, and school choice is the only thing that actually
tips the scale in the favor of parents.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and
trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

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NEXT: The Government Was Supposed To Simplify the FAFSA. Instead, They Created a
Glitchy Fiasco.

Aaron Garth Smith is the director of education reform at Reason Foundation.

School ChoiceArizonaPublic schoolsGovernment abuseEducationDisability
LawDisabilitiesStudents
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