Despite criticism, a voucher program grows – and brings long-sought relief to parents

Ellie Adcock on September 25, 2010 in School Stuff

Cara Fitzpatrick

Kasan Holme struggled to pay attention in fourth grade last year, getting in trouble so often that his teacher exiled him to the back of the room.

He languished there for months, far from the other students. He began begging his mother to let him leave school.

This year, the Wellington 10-year-old goes to a private school that promises help for his learning disability. He’s one of a growing number of special-needs children in Florida whose parents use tax money to subsidize their private education.

His mother, Karen Holme, made the switch using vouchers from the state’s Mc­Kay scholarship program. That followed what she calls a bruising five-year fight with the Palm Beach County School District as she tried to get services for Kasan, who has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and his brother Kai, 12, who has dyslexia.

With an expansion of the McKay program this year, the number of children participating is expected to keep increasing.

Since the McKay program began in 2000, Florida has paid about $895 million to private schools to educate children with disabilities. More than 20,000 children used the school vouchers statewide last year, including 972 in Palm Beach County.

Before applying for vouchers, Holme hired lawyers and child advocates to accompany her to meetings with district officials. She paid for private tutoring and testing.

When discussing Kai, Holme said, a school administrator told her that “we don’t do dyslexia.” For Kasan, she heard from one teacher, “Your child is choosing not to pay attention.”

A teacher also disciplined Kasan for behaviors, such as not making eye contact, that are part of his disorder, according to school records.

“I was told quite a few myths,” Holme said.

Debate over vouchers

School vouchers, championed by then-Gov. Jeb Bush a decade ago, have been controversial.

Supporters say vouchers offer parents choices and serve the state’s neediest children. Opponents say they take money from public schools, often funneling it into private religious schools not subject to the same oversight.

Early on, critics also demanded more accountability after learning that some McKay money had gone to consultants for home-schooling parents. Legislators tightened regulations in 2006.

Those objections aside, some public school officials say parents who use the McKay vouchers often find the private schools ill-equipped to handle their special-needs children.

“The McKay program really is not for everyone,” said Laura Pincus, the Palm Beach County district’s director of exceptional student education. She said she sees a “very high” number of families try private schools, using the McKay, then return to public school.

But parents like Holme say the McKay program was a godsend.

“My kids were hurt (in public school), and maybe no one took a stick and beat them, but they were hurt,” Holme said. “I just think, ‘Boy, am I grateful that I have the McKay.’ ”

Holme applied for vouchers after advocating for her sons became equivalent to a full-time job.

School records from Elbridge Gale Elementary show it took about three years to change Kai’s reading curriculum to one better suited to dyslexia, and nearly two school years to get an individual education plan for Kasan. The plans act as blueprints for how to teach and discipline disabled children based on their needs.

“I was essentially saying the same thing every year,” Holme said.

School officials didn’t think Kasan’s ADHD affected his academic performance, according to records. Instead, they considered him a behavior problem. His teacher noted, in one evaluation, that Kasan once had to be redirected up to 40 times in about an hour.

Kasan said he was bored and often got in trouble for talking to friends. Eventually, he was moved to the back of the classroom.

“She just put me back there as my assigned seat,” Kasan said. “I had like nothing to do.”

School officials can’t discuss individual students. But Pincus said what some parents view as a delay is an attempt to see if regular education options work.

Parent Luze Andrews of West Palm Beach said she, too, became frustrated with the school system and sought private options this year.

After her brother died, Andrews adopted his four children with autism and enrolled them in Melaleuca Elementary near West Palm Beach. Problems arose almost immediately, she said.

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