Posted on 04/02/2008 7:11:05 AM PDT by Tired of Taxes
Home-schooled children in New York who receive special-education services through their school district will have to get their own therapy or go to school full time.
The state Education Department notified school districts in January that they cannot provide the services.
In a memo to superintendents, the state says the federal Individual with Disabilities Education Act requires students who are home-schooled to receive the same special-education services as those enrolled in private schools, if the state designates home schools as private schools. But New York State does not recognize home schools as private schools.
The change came as the result of a decision by a state review officer in a case brought last year.
"It's a problem we had seen cropping up across the country," said T.J. Schmidt, a staff attorney with the Home School Legal Defense Association, a nonprofit organization providing legal services to home-school parents. "The federal government basically leaves it up to the states to determine who is a nonpublic student."
He said many parents in New York have received letters from school districts telling them that the services will be terminated.
"Often these children are in most need of additional services because their parents may not be able to provide these services themselves, or they're going to have a difficult time getting these services outside school," Schmidt said.
The decision affects a relatively small number of students. There are about 450 children statewide receiving the services from their school districts, the state estimates.
In the Kenmore-Town of Tonawanda School District, the district is setting up appointments with the parents of four children, said Michael B. Haggerty, a spokesman for the district. Most of them receive occupational or physical therapy, he said. The district will go over the individualized education program for the pupil to see if any changes in services are warranted.
"The choice is, they enroll their student in public school or private school. If not, they're kind of on their own for the level of services their child needs," Haggerty said. "This is something the state decided, and whether we want to or not, we have to comply with the regulations."
My daughter is on the honor roll, but she has a disability.
She has a brain injury, epilepsy, apraxia of speech and reading/writing problems, short term memory problems, and some other auditory processing problems.
She is great in math, but needs help in other areas.
The epilepsy is new this year, so she has accomodation to be able to listen to books on tape instead of reading them. It helps a lot.
She does about 2 hours of homework each nigh and she’s only in 5th grade. She workds much harder to get A’s then her brother and sister.
Having a disability doesn’t mean that you can’t get A’s. It does mean that you learn differently and need to be taught things differently.
NYS regs allow for the use of school equipment requested by homeschoolers. If homeschoolers can access the lab equipment, overhead machines, etc. why not other services?
>>The service is not for children. It is for children that are students in public schools<<
No, it’s for the children in a district.
We have friends with children in private schools that take advantage of Speech Therapy in the public.
You, like this district, are making your own rules with the homeschooler’s money.
Outstanding summary! Raucous round of applause, a Guinness, and a kitten!
In many places, the only way to see a speech therapist or other therapists for a child with special needs is through the school district.
Not to mention the homeschoolers are already saving the school district thousands and thousands of dollars by not mainstreaming their special needs children.
You may be right in a rural area that there aren’t therappist in that area because they don’t have enough clients, but in the cities there are lots of private therapist.
Considering I’ll bet that they still pay the school taxes for the area, not really....
RobRoy's not making the rules. In the situation in the article, the New York legislature has made the rules, and the school district is interpreting the rules (it appears) within the discretionary space left by the law.
Other states have different laws and different levels of school district discretion.
As RobRoy so brilliantly put it, "The problem is the game itself."
I would then withhold all school taxes until such services were restored.
If this regulation will pay for kids in private school, then there is no reason it should not apply to kids in other educational situations. The parents pay the same taxes.
I’m not talking about kids with real serious issues, like your daughter. I know there are kids out there with genuine needs and I have no problem at all helping them.
I know that injuries don’t always affect intelligence. That’s a whole different issue. Some of the kids in the resource program have different needs. Some are clearly mentally handicapped, one has Down Syndrome and is quite bright, some are refugee kids who have been adopted and are in the process of learning English, a very few have fine motor control issues which makes writing very tedious for them. That accounts for less than half.
We’re somewhat new to this community, but most everyone else has grown up together here and have known each other since before kindergarten. They know how smart each other is and know very well what kind of grades they’d be capable of getting. They KNOW who’s playing the system and who’s not.
Well, actually he said this..
>>The service is not for children. It is for children that are students in public schools<<
And is agreeing that this should be so.
So while you are correct, HE is not defining it, he is defending it.
I guess you think they should consider their school taxes as a “voluntary” contribution ?
and if the HS families pay taxes, that amounts to taxation without representation. it is Blackmail and BS, but Hillery is the senator nothing new here.
I know this is talking about special education services, but there are other reasons homeschoolers send their kids to public school for opportunities that don’t exist except in the public school system. JROTC is one that comes to mind. My nephew was homeschooled, but went to the public school for an hour or two everyday to participate in JROTC. It served him well, and he now has a full ROTC scholarship to college. You don’t homeschool simply to “avoid” the system...you homeschool to provide your kids with an optimum education and value system. However, sometimes taking part in the public school programs are the only way to access certain parts of what one might consider an optimum education.
That didn’t seem like “defending” to me, more like an effort at “describing,” although the situation seems to be more complex than that brief description.
I’m more annoyed that my son can’t be on a track team in a Catholic school!
Not only must homeschoolers pay school taxes, but homeschooling is regulated in the state of NY. It's my understanding that NY homeschoolers are required to submit forms and report to their school districts.
If you're denied food stamps, the state doesn't require you to complete forms showing that you're eating and feeding your children certain foods according to the state's schedule. If homeschoolers must follow the rules of the school district, the district needs to kick in with some services.
I all for home schooling if you can do it. I don’t see though why homeschoolkers should be provided programs (special classes, extracurricular activity, etc.) by the public schools? Seems like they want it both ways.
I’m all also? LOL.
>>No, it’s for the children in a district.
We have friends with children in private schools that take advantage of Speech Therapy in the public.
You, like this district, are making your own rules with the homeschooler’s money.<<
I could be. If what you say is true, then this can easily be resolved in court. And there should be punitive damages.
I agree that, in most cases, using any school services could invite trouble. I do know a mother who asked our district for a team to evaluate her hearing-impaired child, and she was turned down. But we live in a state with no homeschool regulations.
In New York, homeschoolers are regulated. They must submit records, take tests, and report to the school district. So, not only do they pay school taxes and foot the education bill on their own, but homeschooling is controlled by the public school system there. So, they’re already forced to be involved with it.
If NY is going to deny services, then at least leave the homeschoolers alone.
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