Re: Florida has vouchers too...

[Guest guest]

Hello,

I am new to this group. My name is and I am the mother of two

children with disabilities one of which struggles with Autism. I joined this

group because I am always seeking new information and ways to help my children

and because I will be moving to Texas within a couple of months and I wanted to

be sure to get a good understanding on the resources and services available to

help my children once we move there.

I currently live in Florida. I have taken the McKay for my children here. I

thought I might give some insight on how the McKay is working here in Florida.

I want to start by saying I have worked with many families throughout the state

many of which have also taken the McKay and therefore I have heard a variety of

responses to the voucher system.

The public school system here is not able to provide the services many of our

children need. The voucher program allows for us to make a choice between the

public school system and the private industry. It is true that the funding for

the private sector is then paid for by the public sector. Half of the funds the

public sector would receive for my child to attend the school they were zoned

for goes directly to the private school of my choice from the list given as

qualified participants. The other half of the funding remains in the public

sector.

One of the main negative issues I have seen with this program is the lack of

accountability. However, this 2006 - 2007 school year there have been many

changes which have been put in place which make the public sector more

accountable with the children they are receiving on the McKay. Some there has

been some improvement in this area.

The ideal situation would be to reform the public sector to provide the

services our children need however that is quite costly and in many cases the

public sector can acheive this goal and a lower cost to the public due to the

private funding they also receive.

The problem we have here is that many of the private options available still

do not provide for the services our children need. We are left with a decission

to decide which option would be the best out of what situation where neither

option has all the services our children need. For instance, my son needs a

small classroom setting, one on one Aide, ST, ABA, OT, PT, SLD and an assisted

technology device to make it in a classroom setting. My child in a public

school setting will be mainstreamed into a class with 25-35 students due to the

inclusion laws, must be the least restrictive environment. There is no funding

for Aide and no funding for ABA. He has tested out as needing 5 days a week

speech and language yet public system will only provide him with 2 days a week

due to funding. He will not receive PT in public setting because he can walk to

classroom. In a public setting he will receive the assisted technology device

as well as he five days a week SLD services.

He needs five days a week OT and in the public setting they will provide him

with one day a month consultation due to lack of funding. However his testing

through the public sector states he needs five days a week intervention. My son

is 10 years old in the fifth grade and cannot write and can read on a low first

grade level and math skills are on a 2nd grade level. However all verbally, he

cannot write. He has extreme issues with sensitivities to sounds and a large

classroom setting is too overwhelming and therefore he must have a small

classroom setting. All of the above has been found through the public school

testing process and is included on his IEP yet the school has no funding to

provide the services he needs.

When choosing a McKay school I had to look at the services each school

provided. None of the schools provided what my son needed yet I had to look at

the options before me and try to pick the school which would offer the best

services I could get. In our situation I chose a school which had the small

classroom setting which was 6 kids per class with all day SLD services and five

days a week speech and language. I had to look elsewhere for other services and

went to the Elks Association for OT services and educated myself on the rest to

provide what my son needed. We have IDEA laws in place which should have

allowed for my son's assisted technology device to follow him to the private

sector however we ran into issues with allowing for this option therefore he did

not receive that service. We did this option for 2 years. It was not working

out for my son. It was the best option we had in this area yet it was not

enough to help him. We gained no progress with my son.

Part of this was due to the funding which was issued to the private school was

agreed to be used towards speech and language and one on one tutoring. The

private school we chose used that funding for other services and did not

provide what they had agreed to provide. Since this was a school of choice we

had no options to turn to for compliance.

This school year I tried to enroll my child back into the public sector and

unfortunatly met with resistance due to the fact that they have no program he

will fit into. Therefore, they suggested I homeschool my child and have my

child attend the public school for special classes such as OT, ST, SLD services.

Which is what we have done. My son goes to public school for 1 to 2 hours a day

and the rest of the day he works at home with me. I have been fighting this the

entire school year and I am supposed to find out Wednesday if they will go ahead

and enroll my child for the full day on Wednesday. He has an assisted

technology device ordered which will remain at the school once he receives it

when he goes for his 1 to 2 hour classes a day. They said his device might come

in before the end of the school year if we are lucky. It was ordered back in

August. So an entire school year where the child cannot move forward

educationally due to lack of ability to communicate.

For my son, he is lucky, I have this computer and I have found other ways to

help my child. He is making progress.

There needs to be major reform across the entire education system throughout

the United States. In the meantime, I find that having other options available

while valuable time is being waisted with our children, a great way for parents

to find other options out there to help their children.

In other counties throughout Florida this has worked out great. There are

private school options available that have been able to provide the services

many children have needed. I know of parents using homeschooling and private

school options with services that they otherwise could not afford. Their

children are making considerable progress. Many children like ours must have

the one on one and this allows for them to receive this type of care.

I agree that you must have some way for accountability otherwise funding can

be received and no services be provided, but to tell a parent your child cannot

come to a public school setting and not provide another option to them is wrong.

Or to say we will take your kid into a public setting and not be able to provide

them the services they need is also wrong.

I hope this helps shed some light on how things are here in Florida. Since I

have joined this group I am realizing that there will be struggles no matter

where we live. I look foward to the challenge there in Texas. I am glad I

found this group to join. I can tell there are alot of educated people in this

group and I can tell that a true dedication is here to find answers and ways to

help our children.

Thank you for allowing me to join.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

,

Thank you for such a balanced description of your experience. This

is exactly the kind of information that can help us make informed

choices. If we choose to support voucher legislation, maybe we can

use experiences like yours to create better legislation that leaves

room for accountability and/or ties the receipt of public funds to an

agreement by the private school to accept coverage under the IDEA for

each voucher student they accept. I hope your move to Texas ends up

being a positive move. It has been for us (just moved here in July).

>

> Hello,

>

> I am new to this group. My name is and I am the mother

of two children with disabilities one of which struggles with

Autism. I joined this group because I am always seeking new

information and ways to help my children and because I will be moving

to Texas within a couple of months and I wanted to be sure to get a

good understanding on the resources and services available to help my

children once we move there.

>

> I currently live in Florida. I have taken the McKay for my

children here. I thought I might give some insight on how the McKay

is working here in Florida. I want to start by saying I have worked

with many families throughout the state many of which have also taken

the McKay and therefore I have heard a variety of responses to the

voucher system.

>

> The public school system here is not able to provide the services

many of our children need. The voucher program allows for us to make

a choice between the public school system and the private industry.

It is true that the funding for the private sector is then paid for

by the public sector. Half of the funds the public sector would

receive for my child to attend the school they were zoned for goes

directly to the private school of my choice from the list given as

qualified participants. The other half of the funding remains in the

public sector.

>

> One of the main negative issues I have seen with this program is

the lack of accountability. However, this 2006 - 2007 school year

there have been many changes which have been put in place which make

the public sector more accountable with the children they are

receiving on the McKay. Some there has been some improvement in this

area.

>

> The ideal situation would be to reform the public sector to

provide the services our children need however that is quite costly

and in many cases the public sector can acheive this goal and a lower

cost to the public due to the private funding they also receive.

>

> The problem we have here is that many of the private options

available still do not provide for the services our children need.

We are left with a decission to decide which option would be the best

out of what situation where neither option has all the services our

children need. For instance, my son needs a small classroom setting,

one on one Aide, ST, ABA, OT, PT, SLD and an assisted technology

device to make it in a classroom setting. My child in a public

school setting will be mainstreamed into a class with 25-35 students

due to the inclusion laws, must be the least restrictive

environment. There is no funding for Aide and no funding for ABA. He

has tested out as needing 5 days a week speech and language yet

public system will only provide him with 2 days a week due to

funding. He will not receive PT in public setting because he can

walk to classroom. In a public setting he will receive the assisted

technology device as well as he five days a week SLD services.

> He needs five days a week OT and in the public setting they will

provide him with one day a month consultation due to lack of

funding. However his testing through the public sector states he

needs five days a week intervention. My son is 10 years old in the

fifth grade and cannot write and can read on a low first grade level

and math skills are on a 2nd grade level. However all verbally, he

cannot write. He has extreme issues with sensitivities to sounds and

a large classroom setting is too overwhelming and therefore he must

have a small classroom setting. All of the above has been found

through the public school testing process and is included on his IEP

yet the school has no funding to provide the services he needs.

>

> When choosing a McKay school I had to look at the services each

school provided. None of the schools provided what my son needed yet

I had to look at the options before me and try to pick the school

which would offer the best services I could get. In our situation I

chose a school which had the small classroom setting which was 6 kids

per class with all day SLD services and five days a week speech and

language. I had to look elsewhere for other services and went to the

Elks Association for OT services and educated myself on the rest to

provide what my son needed. We have IDEA laws in place which should

have allowed for my son's assisted technology device to follow him to

the private sector however we ran into issues with allowing for this

option therefore he did not receive that service. We did this option

for 2 years. It was not working out for my son. It was the best

option we had in this area yet it was not enough to help him. We

gained no progress with my son.

> Part of this was due to the funding which was issued to the

private school was agreed to be used towards speech and language and

one on one tutoring. The private school we chose used that funding

for other services and did not provide what they had agreed to

provide. Since this was a school of choice we had no options to turn

to for compliance.

>

> This school year I tried to enroll my child back into the public

sector and unfortunatly met with resistance due to the fact that they

have no program he will fit into. Therefore, they suggested I

homeschool my child and have my child attend the public school for

special classes such as OT, ST, SLD services. Which is what we have

done. My son goes to public school for 1 to 2 hours a day and the

rest of the day he works at home with me. I have been fighting this

the entire school year and I am supposed to find out Wednesday if

they will go ahead and enroll my child for the full day on

Wednesday. He has an assisted technology device ordered which will

remain at the school once he receives it when he goes for his 1 to 2

hour classes a day. They said his device might come in before the

end of the school year if we are lucky. It was ordered back in

August. So an entire school year where the child cannot move forward

educationally due to lack of ability to communicate.

> For my son, he is lucky, I have this computer and I have found

other ways to help my child. He is making progress.

>

> There needs to be major reform across the entire education system

throughout the United States. In the meantime, I find that having

other options available while valuable time is being waisted with our

children, a great way for parents to find other options out there to

help their children.

>

> In other counties throughout Florida this has worked out great.

There are private school options available that have been able to

provide the services many children have needed. I know of parents

using homeschooling and private school options with services that

they otherwise could not afford. Their children are making

considerable progress. Many children like ours must have the one on

one and this allows for them to receive this type of care.

>

> I agree that you must have some way for accountability otherwise

funding can be received and no services be provided, but to tell a

parent your child cannot come to a public school setting and not

provide another option to them is wrong. Or to say we will take your

kid into a public setting and not be able to provide them the

services they need is also wrong.

>

> I hope this helps shed some light on how things are here in

Florida. Since I have joined this group I am realizing that there

will be struggles no matter where we live. I look foward to the

challenge there in Texas. I am glad I found this group to join. I

can tell there are alot of educated people in this group and I can

tell that a true dedication is here to find answers and ways to help

our children.

>

> Thank you for allowing me to join.

>

>

>

> __________________________________________________

>

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I have to agree with Liz. I, too, am tired. My son is now 8. It

has been a very long 5 years. We spent almost 4 years in private

school. Although I had to provide transportation and pay tuition, I

have to say that I found private school clearly preferably. My son

received one to one education/therapy focused directly on his needs.

We are presently in public school. To say that you do not have to

fight with school districts to get services is misleading and

uninformed. I have attended many ARDs over the past couple of

years. The time and energy my husband and I put into preparation for

these meetings is absurd, especially when you consider that we

already have no time due to the caregiving requirements of my son.

Our present situation will require litigation in order for the school

district to provide the services recommended by the three

psychologists that evaluated my son. For the folks that enjoy a good

fight or have a lot of time to fight school districts or home school

their children, go for it. The rest of us are tired and would like

some help with our children that doesn't require extensive reading,

research, money, advocacy, etc. I respect everyone's opinion here -

please respect mine and the others that you do not agree with.

Crystal