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Article originally appeared in Atlanta Parent Magazine, July 2007

by Tali Toland

Parents of children with special needs in Georgia’s public school system have some governmental support now pertaining to the financial responsibility of their child’s education. Governor Sonny Perdue signed the Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Program into law in May of this year. “The program was proposed by Senator Eric Johnson, (R-Savannah) who modeled it after programs in other states, including Florida’s McKay Scholarship,” explains Dana Tofig, Director of Communications for the Georgia Department of Education. “It was passed by the legislature in April.”

Throughout June, private schools made applications stating their interest in becoming “sanctioned schools” under this program; this list of schools will be available mid-July after the State Board of Education meets to review the applications. At that point, parents will be able to officially apply for the scholarship program at http://public.doe.k12.ga.us/sb10.aspx. In the first two weeks that the scholarship was announced and intent forms could be accessed, the State received over 1,000 parent requests and over 100 school applications. “To put things in perspective, there are more than 185,000 special education students in Georgia,” says Tofig.

Concerns from the State Superintendent of Schools, who does not support a general scholarship program, but does support this program, surround public opinion. “A general scholarship would imply Georgia’s public schools are lacking, and we don’t feel they are. This [program] simply gives options to a group of parents and students who often do not have many choices,” says Tofig.

The majority of Georgia’s public schools are doing their jobs as far as providing care and an education for students with disabilities is concerned. “Generally speaking, public schools can offer more comprehensive programs for special needs students and protections under the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA),” says Tofig. However, there are also instances where the public schools cannot provide a student with the services a parent wants for his or her special needs child. This scholarship program is an option for parents – now they have a choice: send their child to a qualifying private school with financial help from the State or send their child to a public school (in or out of district) that is willing to accept additional students under this program.

It sounds easy enough, but this program has a lot of particulars that at first glance, may not be picked up that will affect these children long-term. One of these consequences is very significant: once parents opt to take part in this program and send their child to a private school, they waive their child’s rights under IDEA. Parents are also responsible for making sure the schools they are sending their children to are designed to handle the special need that their child has. If the parents are dissatisfied with the school they have chosen, they must either change schools and forfeit the money, or return to public school.

If a family elects to send their child to a sanctioned private school, the amount of the scholarship is equal to the amount of state funds the public school system received for the special education student during the prior school year; or the amount of the private school’s tuition and fees, whichever is less. The amount of monies spent previously on the child is based on IEPs (Individualized Education Plan). The IEP must be for the most recent school year, and the child has to have been enrolled in public school for that entire year to be eligible for scholarship money. The money that is awarded from the results of this IEP will not be reevaluated once the child is removed from the public school system. Therefore, if the child’s condition worsens, a family would have to remove a child from the private school they are attending for an entire year in order to receive money based on a new IEP.

Checks for the awarded amount of money are made payable to parents, and mailed to the appropriate private school, where parents will endorse the check to the school. This ensures the correct student and school receive the funds; parents will not have to claim this money as income for tax purposes.

As with most things in life, this program may be appropriate for some students and not appropriate for others. However, it is a huge step in general for families of children with special needs. With this coming school year being the first this program will effect, it is sure to have its ups and downs, but hopefully the children will win out in the end.