It's apparent by now that Congress is not going to follow most of the excellent recommendations of the Bush administration's commission on the reform of IDEA, least of all its suggestion that federal funds be able to be used by states for special-ed vouchers a la Florida's "McKay Scholarships." (See http://www.edexcellence.net/gadfly/issue.cfm?issue=51#755 for coverage of the Commission's report and see https://www.opportunityschools.org/Info/McKay/default.asp?&noCache=20044593231 for information about the Florida program.) Indeed, it's far from certain at this writing that the 108th Congress will even complete work on the extremely modest reforms that House and Senate are contemplating for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Some grumpy parents are protesting the slightest changes and this is ground that most politicians find shaky during an election year. So maybe nothing will happen in Washington except a continuation of the present law.
Too bad. But more disappointing is the wimpiness that may be descending upon states that have been considering their own versions of Florida's pioneering program. That excellent idea is under discussion in Texas and Colorado. But the Utah precedent is disheartening. That state's legislature passed a version of this program only to have it vetoed by Governor Olene Walker, a Republican who offered a limp constitutional explanation for wielding her veto pen.
It wasn't a huge program, just $1.4 million. But the proposed "Carson Smith Special Needs Scholarship" program, named for a five-year-old autistic Utah child, would have enabled kids with disabilities to take some $5,000 apiece in state funds to the school of their choice. That's pretty much how the McKay program works in Florida (see below for our review of a report that grades the McKay scholarship and other voucher programs).
Walker is running for governor in her own right this year, having inherited the mantle from Mike Leavitt when he left the banks of the Great Salt Lake for the mud of the Potomac. One need not know a lot about the politics of Utah, however, not even conservative-tending Utah, to know that a lot of folks whose approval and votes she covets don't want any sort of voucher for any sort of child, not even the most disabled. In any event, this was one of just six bills that Walker vetoed among the 391 enacted by the legislature. Utah political analysts say that she was simultaneously currying favor among "social" conservatives by signing measures dealing with marriage, abortion, etc. A political balancing act, I suppose. It's a pity, though, when disabled children become pawns in political games, whether in the statehouse or on Capitol Hill.
"Debating the Carson Smith special needs scholarship," by Cheryl Smith, Salt Lake Tribune, April 4, 2004
"Walker under fire from parents of disabled kids," ABC 4 News, Salt Lake City, Utah, March 29, 2004
"Utah governor flunks bill on school vouchers," by Dan Harrie, Salt Lake Tribune, March 24, 2004
"Governor, lawmakers, at odds on vetoes," by Rebecca Walsh, Salt Lake Tribune, March 26, 2004
"Walker's veto pen," Salt Lake Tribune, March 25, 2004
"Governor Walker turns down voucher bill," by Michelle R. Davis, Education Week, March 31, 2004
