OP it may not seem fair, but the public school system guarantees an education to every child whether they can afford tuition at a private school or not. This applies to children without special needs, who would attend and participate in a regular classroom, or kids who have SN and applying appropriate accommodations for them.

Just as there is no income cap for providing a regular public classroom for a child, there is no income cap for providing SN services for a child who needs them, including private placement if that is needed for that child to receive an education.

The part where you should decide things can be unfair is that wealthy parents may be more unable to hire a lawyer to aggressively advocate for their child getting what they need in the public system than parents with few means. But the solution to that problem is not an income cap for private placement but instead a system where we are more fair consistent and reasonable about getting appropriate services for all SN children without lawyers being needed.

Do you feel this overwrought when you discover that rich families are sending their children to magnet programs at public schools instead of private schools? Is that an equal abuse of taxpayer dollars? Or is it just the disabled kids who shouldn't get a free ride?

Do you believe we should have an income cap in general for public schools, OP? Not willing to go there?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does the public school ever pay private school tuition without a fight? If they have private schools that fully funded by public schools, then if a kid needs a smaller teacher student ratio and more counseling and psychological services each day than the school can handle, do they offer one of these schools?

My child is in a "private" school paid for by FCPS. All the students at the school are placed by various school systems. FWIW, the families that we know did not hire lawyers or advocates to get private placement for their child (FCPS-I have heard MCPS is a different story). It is more cost effective for FCPS to send a child to a contract services school then to education that particular child in a mainstream school. There are very few private schools that have contracts with the school systems to provide services. The schools my child has attended and we have toured have been absolutely bare bones. No one would choose to send their child to once of these schools if their child could attend their local FCPS school. People aren't plotting and scheming to get into the Phillips School, etc. The education is very poor compared to public schools in every way.

That breaks my heart and I am sorry to hear it. I just looks at Phillips School's website and it all sounds beautiful-their dedication to making things work, etc, but I am sorry to hear the reality of these places can be different. I do assume it varies by school? I met one parent years ago who felt like the program her kid was placed in was life changing and the plan was to then bring him back to the public school system.

Anonymous wrote:Does the public school ever pay private school tuition without a fight? If they have private schools that fully funded by public schools, then if a kid needs a smaller teacher student ratio and more counseling and psychological services each day than the school can handle, do they offer one of these schools?

My child is in a "private" school paid for by FCPS. All the students at the school are placed by various school systems. FWIW, the families that we know did not hire lawyers or advocates to get private placement for their child (FCPS-I have heard MCPS is a different story). It is more cost effective for FCPS to send a child to a contract services school then to education that particular child in a mainstream school. There are very few private schools that have contracts with the school systems to provide services. The schools my child has attended and we have toured have been absolutely bare bones. No one would choose to send their child to once of these schools if their child could attend their local FCPS school. People aren't plotting and scheming to get into the Phillips School, etc. The education is very poor compared to public schools in every way.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I know families in DC and MoCo who got private placements without hiring lawyers, but then I also know folks who had to sue to get a private placement. Families in both categories had kids with level 2+ ASD and/or other severe needs. It really depends on the child's needs, the school district's programs, and the parents' level of savvy/aggressiveness. It also seems that the more disruptive the child is, the more quickly the school district will agree to a public placement.

You mean the more quickly the district will agree to a PRIVATE placement.
Yes. If your kid is not learning anything but is quiet, nothing will happen.
I know families who went through the AJE route, but nothing was done as the kids were not disruptive.
You need a really good lawyer.

What is AJE?