Tax Plan Could Aid Private Schools
By Virginia Young and David Hunn, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Feb. 14--JEFFERSON CITY -- Using tax credits for private schools -- a political lightning rod in Missouri for years -- gained a new group of supporters Wednesday: parents of autistic children.
The families are pushing bills that would provide scholarships for children with disabilities. The money would help cover tuition at private schools or public schools away from a family's home.

At a packed Senate hearing, several mothers recounted their efforts to find services for children diagnosed with autism or an associated disorder. Shari Kaminsky of Kirkwood said her 12-year-old severely autistic son is learning to read, thanks to a private school that costs the family dearly -- $32,000 a year.


There is a saying that the true test of a free society is not how it treats its richest citizens but how it treats its poorest. Now, many of the families who testified are not in poverty, but they have been severely economically burdened by the sheer cost associated with having a special needs child, anything from healthcare bills for a correct diagnosis (that is a requisite for an IEP or public schools) to the cost of getting an education. These families cannot walk into their neighborhood school and enroll their child as most parents do—the process is much more complicated for a student with disabilities of any kind, and it seems unreasonable to assume that every school district has the means to educate every kind of special needs student.

Many argue that the Cooperating school districts of St. Louis as meant to do just that: provide a broad range of services for special needs students. This is a great option for many parents, but not all. Having a son with severe autism caused Shari Kaminsky to seek out a private school that is truly able to work with him, and she pays for that level of expertise. For parents of children with autism, this expertise is the difference between a child stagnating or even regressing, and that child learning despite difficulties. What parent could deny a child that chance? What society could deny parents the right to make that choice?

That’s to say nothing of students outside of the special school district’s reach. This bill simply reaches out to those parents and says “Missouri supports you and your child”. By not passing this bill, as the special school district wants, we are, in effect, saying “Missouri cares more about status quo in our education system than actually serving your needs.”

Public school were made to serve all students, but it is a logical fallacy to assume that because they intend to, that they do serve all students. And they do a good job in many instances, but when we, as a state, offer only that option to parents whose children require a level of specialized treatment or care it says: since your child, because of his or her special needs, does not fit into our educational paradigm, it’s not our problem. The burden is on you, the parent, if your child needs something we can’t offer.

A tuition tax credit, detailed in this bill, gives that alternative to parents. Missouri should realize that this reflects on our values: it shows that we believe in educating all children. It’s time to admit that public education is not a perfect answer for every precious, important and deserving child that lives in this state, and that denying any of them the right to get the best education is denying them the right to succeed.