Suing for Private Placement -is there no income cap?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Having programs be non-means tested can actually help everyone - the wealthier parents who can litigate and advocate strongly for themselves end up establishing strong precedent for everyone, and also have an interest in keeping the program strong that they wouldn't have if it was just for "poor people."

That said, I'm sure the benefits are not equally shared because lower income people don't have the knowledge or ability to advocate. So, you do have to be careful to look for disparities.

And I'd say that a wealthy family that is getting private-paid tuition is morally obligated to pay it forward by donating to special education advocacy groups.

Also the families who have the resources to litigate their case all the way to the Supreme court are establishing precedents that help everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Having programs be non-means tested can actually help everyone - the wealthier parents who can litigate and advocate strongly for themselves end up establishing strong precedent for everyone, and also have an interest in keeping the program strong that they wouldn't have if it was just for "poor people."

That said, I'm sure the benefits are not equally shared because lower income people don't have the knowledge or ability to advocate. So, you do have to be careful to look for disparities.

And I'd say that a wealthy family that is getting private-paid tuition is morally obligated to pay it forward by donating to special education advocacy groups.

Also the families who have the resources to litigate their case all the way to the Supreme court are establishing precedents that help everyone.

Absolutely! I applaud those families because it's a huge ordeal financially and emotionally and they are making changes that benefit us all.

[Anonymous]

There are only a handful of private schools for special needs and they can pick and choose kids (wealthy or otherwise). There are many kids with severe disabilities who are not served by the privates or the public schools.

[Anonymous]

To give you a little bit of the information I think you are looking for I can tell you that I was paid a little more than $31,000 + benefits and retirement to be a 1:1 for a student in a public elementary school. In that case I think the total expenses for this student would have exceeded private school tuition (the parents were not interested in that as far as I know)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To give you a little bit of the information I think you are looking for I can tell you that I was paid a little more than $31,000 + benefits and retirement to be a 1:1 for a student in a public elementary school. In that case I think the total expenses for this student would have exceeded private school tuition (the parents were not interested in that as far as I know)

That makes sense because I am assuming this child needed more than just an aide in terms of services.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To give you a little bit of the information I think you are looking for I can tell you that I was paid a little more than $31,000 + benefits and retirement to be a 1:1 for a student in a public elementary school. In that case I think the total expenses for this student would have exceeded private school tuition (the parents were not interested in that as far as I know)

That's still cheaper than those privates.

KTS most expensive is $71,000 plus $2500 activity fee plus transportation fee plus therapy/service fees - easily could be over $100K

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give you a little bit of the information I think you are looking for I can tell you that I was paid a little more than $31,000 + benefits and retirement to be a 1:1 for a student in a public elementary school. In that case I think the total expenses for this student would have exceeded private school tuition (the parents were not interested in that as far as I know)

That's still cheaper than those privates.

KTS most expensive is $71,000 plus $2500 activity fee plus transportation fee plus therapy/service fees - easily could be over $100K

Maybe but you also need to factor in baseline per pupil spending, a portion of the SLP/OT/PT/Vision specialist salaries as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give you a little bit of the information I think you are looking for I can tell you that I was paid a little more than $31,000 + benefits and retirement to be a 1:1 for a student in a public elementary school. In that case I think the total expenses for this student would have exceeded private school tuition (the parents were not interested in that as far as I know)

That's still cheaper than those privates.

KTS most expensive is $71,000 plus $2500 activity fee plus transportation fee plus therapy/service fees - easily could be over $100K

Maybe but you also need to factor in baseline per pupil spending, a portion of the SLP/OT/PT/Vision specialist salaries as well.

You assume that kids are actually getting that in the public schools. Most of those would be nominal. My kid got speech for 30minute with a group of 6 kids with non-related issues so I don't even consider that actual therapy. Never heard of a vision specialist and we don't have PT's at our school. Very few kids have 1-1 aides.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give you a little bit of the information I think you are looking for I can tell you that I was paid a little more than $31,000 + benefits and retirement to be a 1:1 for a student in a public elementary school. In that case I think the total expenses for this student would have exceeded private school tuition (the parents were not interested in that as far as I know)

That's still cheaper than those privates.

KTS most expensive is $71,000 plus $2500 activity fee plus transportation fee plus therapy/service fees - easily could be over $100K

Maybe but you also need to factor in baseline per pupil spending, a portion of the SLP/OT/PT/Vision specialist salaries as well.

You assume that kids are actually getting that in the public schools. Most of those would be nominal. My kid got speech for 30minute with a group of 6 kids with non-related issues so I don't even consider that actual therapy. Never heard of a vision specialist and we don't have PT's at our school. Very few kids have 1-1 aides.

Whether you consider it therapy or not they are still paid by the school district

[Anonymous]

We have a private placement and know several other families who do. When you get a placement it's because the school system is unable to educate your child in an appropriate setting. It has nothing to do with severity of need as many public systems do have programs for children who are gravely impaired. You need to educate yourself on FAPE. Our finances have nothing to do with our placement. I also resent the tone of your post which seems to imply somehow we are getting away with something. If we have any kind of advantage it is not financial it is that I have devoted myself to "fixing" my kid and as such spend ridiculous amounts of time learning about special education and people and programs who might help him including an advocate and a lawyer. I am happy where we have ended up for the moment but no private is perfect and there aren't many choices. If we had not agreed to our current placement I'm really not sure where else we would have gone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have a private placement and know several other families who do. When you get a placement it's because the school system is unable to educate your child in an appropriate setting. It has nothing to do with severity of need as many public systems do have programs for children who are gravely impaired. You need to educate yourself on FAPE. Our finances have nothing to do with our placement. I also resent the tone of your post which seems to imply somehow we are getting away with something. If we have any kind of advantage it is not financial it is that I have devoted myself to "fixing" my kid and as such spend ridiculous amounts of time learning about special education and people and programs who might help him including an advocate and a lawyer. I am happy where we have ended up for the moment but no private is perfect and there aren't many choices. If we had not agreed to our current placement I'm really not sure where else we would have gone.

Finances do have a lot to do with placement as you could afford to hire an advocate and attorney which many families cannot afford.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a private placement and know several other families who do. When you get a placement it's because the school system is unable to educate your child in an appropriate setting. It has nothing to do with severity of need as many public systems do have programs for children who are gravely impaired. You need to educate yourself on FAPE. Our finances have nothing to do with our placement. I also resent the tone of your post which seems to imply somehow we are getting away with something. If we have any kind of advantage it is not financial it is that I have devoted myself to "fixing" my kid and as such spend ridiculous amounts of time learning about special education and people and programs who might help him including an advocate and a lawyer. I am happy where we have ended up for the moment but no private is perfect and there aren't many choices. If we had not agreed to our current placement I'm really not sure where else we would have gone.

Finances do have a lot to do with placement as you could afford to hire an advocate and attorney which many families cannot afford.

Our legal expenses were minimal and I know at least one family who prevailed in a CIEP meeting with no lawyer. It's really not as hard as you think. We and the other people we know are middle class. It's completely kid-dependent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: Help me understand this and see the other side. From having a child with SN we have connected with a number of other families with kids who have SN. One family we know sued for private placement and won. The father is in a field where he easily brings in well over half a million a year. They live in a mansion. They are getting free tuition paid for I assume by our tax dollars. Is there no income cap here? Also, does this mean poor families who's kids' needs cannot be met in the school have no chance of getting a private placement because they can't afford a great lawyer? Is there anything in place to help those less fortunate who have kids with SN who's needs cannot be met in public. Does the school system cut a deal with these schools so say a 60,000 a year SN private is only costing the school system $20,000?

Also, I assume our kids with SN all ready cost the school system a lot and cost varies by amount of services. Is it possible it costs the school system almost as much to educate our kids in public school as it would to send them to private school?

There is no income cap for getting a private placement.
Many SN kids who would benefit from a private placement don’t get one because the parents don’t understand the process and/or don’t have the money, knowledge, or desire to hire someone else to help them navigate it.
There are non-profit organizations that provide lawyers and advocates at little or no cost.
Some non public schools do negotiate lower rates with some school districts.
Sometimes the cost for the school district to provide FAPE for a child is lower than tuition for a
private placement.
Litigation over private placements can create legal precedents that help SN kids other than the plaintiffs get FAPE.
The cost of private placements sometimes motivates school districts to improve their Special Ed programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a private placement and know several other families who do. When you get a placement it's because the school system is unable to educate your child in an appropriate setting. It has nothing to do with severity of need as many public systems do have programs for children who are gravely impaired. You need to educate yourself on FAPE. Our finances have nothing to do with our placement. I also resent the tone of your post which seems to imply somehow we are getting away with something. If we have any kind of advantage it is not financial it is that I have devoted myself to "fixing" my kid and as such spend ridiculous amounts of time learning about special education and people and programs who might help him including an advocate and a lawyer. I am happy where we have ended up for the moment but no private is perfect and there aren't many choices. If we had not agreed to our current placement I'm really not sure where else we would have gone.

Finances do have a lot to do with placement as you could afford to hire an advocate and attorney which many families cannot afford.

Our legal expenses were minimal and I know at least one family who prevailed in a CIEP meeting with no lawyer. It's really not as hard as you think. We and the other people we know are middle class. It's completely kid-dependent.

You probably aren't true middle class and are DCUM middle class. I don't know anyone successful with anything except to hire an advocate or attorney. We gave up and did private services as we'd rather spend our money helping our child vs. fighting a system that is near impossible to win. If you child's situation is such, it may not be hard, but for the rest of us even just to get basic supports is near impossible or even to follow the IEP they wrote without our input.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To give you a little bit of the information I think you are looking for I can tell you that I was paid a little more than $31,000 + benefits and retirement to be a 1:1 for a student in a public elementary school. In that case I think the total expenses for this student would have exceeded private school tuition (the parents were not interested in that as far as I know)

That's still cheaper than those privates.

KTS most expensive is $71,000 plus $2500 activity fee plus transportation fee plus therapy/service fees - easily could be over $100K

Maybe but you also need to factor in baseline per pupil spending, a portion of the SLP/OT/PT/Vision specialist salaries as well.

You assume that kids are actually getting that in the public schools. Most of those would be nominal. My kid got speech for 30minute with a group of 6 kids with non-related issues so I don't even consider that actual therapy. Never heard of a vision specialist and we don't have PT's at our school. Very few kids have 1-1 aides.

Whether you consider it therapy or not they are still paid by the school district

The cost of a 30 minute session divided by 6 kids is pretty nominal.