Congress Should Make Special Education Choice a Legislative Priority
When it comes to special education school choice, parents deserve more options to select the best way forward for their children.
Despite a well-intentioned federal law that provides baseline rights for parents of special needs children across all states, a stark divide has emerged in education opportunities for children with disabilities, based on whether they live in states with school choice.
Students with disabilities in choice states have significantly more options than their peers in non-choice states. Congress needs to update the law to expand choice nationwide for students with disabilities.
The centerpiece of federal special education law — the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act — was passed 50 years ago at a time when ascendant reform-minded activists were redefining liberalism to rely less on the redistribution of wealth through federal agencies and more on the expansion of due process rights through compliance regimes hashed out by federal judges and special-interest legal organizations.
The law provides a right to an Individualized Education Program, a plan negotiated between the public school system and the child’s parents, but not a right to a high-quality education of the parents’ choice.
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