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The Brian Lehrer Show / October 10, 2007 / Access for All

Access for All

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children of New York and Hank Sheinkopf, political consultant and parent of a learning-disabled daughter, both discuss why --and how--lower income parents can gain access to a high quality education for their learning disabled children. Epecially as the Supreme Court just ruled that the New York City public school system has to reimburse parents who enrolled their learning-disabled student in private school.


Comments

  • [1] hjs from 11211 October 10, 2007 - 11:50AM

    so now rich people have a way to get tax payers to subsidize their private education. it's been a dream for so long. any one can say they have a disabled child. haft the kid in America a already on ritalin.

    congrats
  • [2] Laura from NJ October 10, 2007 - 11:59AM

    What is upsetting is that only children with severe learning disabilites have the option to go to a private school with public funding. What about exceptionally gifted children who cannot afford private school. Extremely gifted children might not get the education they need at a public school. What defines an adequate education!?
  • [3] Liz from brooklyn October 10, 2007 - 12:06PM

    Why shouldn't the parent have to try the program. How can they know that the program won't work or that the private program will? Do the private programs have to show progress. Are they monitored?


  • [4] Michelle Rowland from Fanwood, New Jersey October 10, 2007 - 12:22PM

    This is a question I suggest MUST be addressed with the subject discussion you held today.

    Today's discussion addressed a thorny issue and certainly it is impossible to feel no empathy for all parents seeking to provide the very best for their own children.

    Providing that best under any and all circumstances, however, raises another issue that is already being confronted today: what about the inevitable drain on the resources of the public-school districts required to pay for individual students at private schools with greater resources? Is the larger body of assumedly "normal" students required simply to do with less because of the payment/s required for the private educations of some?

    If one of the tenets of our democracy is "the greatest good for the greatest number," this whole issue raises some serious dilemmas to be dealt with; if not immediately, then certainly in the not-so-distant future.

    PLEASE NOTE: If you decide to address this question on your program, I would hope you would provide some notice of when that would happen. And if you decide NOT to address it, I would certainly hope you would explain, on the air, your reasoning for that decision.

    The questions likely to arise from the recent court ruling enabling any parent anywhere to seek public-education payment for his/her child's special-education needs--and without even first trying the public education for the child--are truly mind boggling.

    PS I love your show and try never to miss it.

This thread is closed.


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