Tuition Grants Considered For Disabled Va. Students

Dissatisfied Parents Would Have Option

Virginia lawmakers are considering using state money to help pay private school tuition for disabled students whose parents are unhappy with the public schools.

Parents of about 175,000 students with disabilities ranging from speech problems to mental retardation could apply for the money. The proposal has sparked sharp resistance from many school officials who said it is a voucher program that would siphon money from public classrooms.

But supporters said the grants would provide much-needed help to parents who feel that public education is failing their children.

Fairfax County School Board member Stuart D. Gibson (Hunter Mill) has labeled the effort a "stealth voucher program" and called on his colleagues to lobby hard for its defeat. School officials in Arlington and Alexandria also said they oppose the program.

"Anything that takes money away from public education and puts it toward private education . . . is not right," said Alexandria School Board Chairman Mary "Mollie" Danforth.

But Sen. Walter A. Stosch (R-Henrico) said the program would mean a better education for a minority of disabled students who are not thriving in public school classrooms.

"This is not going to cause a mass exodus of students," he said. "It will position a few students so they can be cared for differently."

To be eligible for the funds, a child would have to be enrolled in Virginia public schools for at least a year, and the parent would have to be "dissatisfied" with the student's progress. Each grant would equal whatever the state spends to educate the average disabled student annually -- about $2,800, according to the most recent data from the Virginia Department of Education.

A similar measure died in a Senate committee last month after a long and emotional debate. Then the idea reappeared, tucked into the voluminous House budget.

Del. Phillip A. Hamilton (R-Newport News), who suggested that the program be placed in the House budget, said he has seen firsthand the frustration of parents who must battle school officials to get the service they believe their disabled children need.

"It really is a process that's stacked against the parent," said Hamilton, a Newport News public school administrator.

He insisted that the proposal is not the start of a voucher program, noting that many disabled students are already educated in private schools at public expense. That's because federal law requires that all children receive a "free and appropriate" education, and school officials sometimes pay private school tuition for severely disabled children rather than start expensive programs for them. In 2004, Virginia taxpayers footed the bill for nearly 2,500 disabled students in private schools.

Several school officials said that indicates options available for children who cannot find the resources they need in public school. Several also noted that tuition grants would cover only a fraction of the typical private school tuition, which can run to tens of thousands of dollars. Many parents would not be able to afford to pay the difference.

Beginning this weekend, the proposal, which is not in the Senate budget, will be one of many debated as legislators try to resolve differences in the budgets of the two chambers.

Several of the Senate's top GOP negotiators said they favor the idea. The Senate's lone Democratic budget negotiator is likely to be R. Edward Houck (Spotsylvania), who runs special education programs in Fredericksburg and is one of the most vocal opponents of the grants.

"I can't support it, I can tell you that," he said.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine (D) will get a chance to weigh in as well, with his line-item veto of the state budget. His spokesman, Kevin Hall, said yesterday, "The governor does not support vouchers, and this looks suspiciously like a tentative step down that path."