Should Public Schools Pay for Special School District Student's Private School Tuition?

Today in the Saint Louis Post Dispatch there is an interesting article discussing two cases where the courts have had to try to decide if public school districts should have to pay for special school district students, or special needs students, to go to residential private schools. Here's a link to the article, it adresses some pretty complex questions.

Click Here for Article

Two students are discussed with very different issues.

Student 1: "a struggling Oregon high school student whose parents enrolled him in a $5,200-a-month residential school after he became a heavy marijuana user and ran away from home".

He was evaluated for learning disabilities and didn't have them, his folks removed him from public school before he could be evaluated for ADHD, which it sounds like he may have this or possibly Oppositional Defiant Disorder based upon the description.

Questions:

• Should the District pay for this?



• Why did Mom and Dad allow his problems to get this far (to Junior year in HS) before they decided to have him evaluated? Have they ever thought to take him to a psychiatrist? Did they take him?
  
  
• Without waiting for a diagnosis from the school district which would have helped place the student in an appropriate learning situation, can the district be expected to pay for the private school?
  
  

All students have the right (by law) to an appropriate public education. The key word here is "appropriate".

Maybe it isn't appropriate to put my son into a learning situation with an out of control student too. Does that mean the school district would pay for me to put my son into a private school that refuses to educate kids with problems?

Hmmm.

Student #2: Younger learning disabled student whose Dad enrolled him in a private school without ever trying public school.

If this child has a true diagnosed learning disability, why didn't Dad enroll him in public school with the guarantee of special school district help in that setting? This one has already gone to the Supreme Court where the decision was deadlocked when judge Anthony Kennedy recused himself.

Questions:

• What is this child's learning disability and why would a private school do a better job educating him?
  
  
• Why would his Dad not have the child evaluated by Special School District before the child started school, and then look at public school options?



• It seems as if Dad jumped the gun, but as the president of Viacom, perhaps he is used to getting what he wants right away. And I'm guessing he could better afford this private school than the local school district.
  
  
• Shouldn't there be an independent consultant for parents and public schools who can best decide if a student's learning disabilities (or behavioral disabilities) might best be addressed by a private residential facility? Otherwise it seems as if any parent can make this decision at any time for any student, and this could decimate the entire public school system.
  

Let us all know what you think by commenting on the blog itself, so others can read your responses.