Mother of special needs child reports challenges getting paperwork for $30,000 school voucher – The Learning Curve
Applications are open for families wanting to apply for the Texas Education Freedom Accounts (TEFA), but some students with special needs are having difficulty getting a new Individualized Education Program (IEP) to receive the largest voucher.
Students with special needs are eligible for a voucher up to $30,000. Per TEFA guidelines, whether the student is already a private school attendee or making the switch, they must obtain a new IEP from a local public school district.
Many districts across the state already have a backlog of IEPs they are working on for public school students. Add in private school students needing new IEPS for vouchers, and some parents say it's created a headache.
There are concern that IEPs will not be completed by the March 17 deadline for TEFA applications. If an IEP is not completed in time, families will not be able to obtain the full $30,000 voucher.
CBS Texas's lead education reporter Lacey Beasley spoke one Fort Worth mother, Lindsey Garner, who started the IEP process with both Arlington and Fort Worth ISDs. A portion of their conversation is below.
CBS New Texas has out to both districts about the backlog they may be seeing and have not heard back.
Lindsey Garner: This is by far the most stressful and tedious process our family has ever been through. If you are seeking the higher level of voucher amount, the up to $30,000 voucher amount, then you are required to have an evaluation and an IEP conducted by a public school district and on file with the Texas Education Agency by the time the application period closes. My younger son has a much higher level of need. He is nonverbal. They are 14 and 12. They attend two different private schools. We're not new to the special needs process and navigating evaluations and diagnostics and all the things that are required to be able to access services and therapies.
Lacey Beasley: Going through the public school district, what has been the most frustrating part?
Garner: For many, many years before vouchers became a thing in Texas, school districts have been under-resourced. So then enter the voucher process, now you are requiring private school families to have to approach the public school districts and request evaluations and IEPs on behalf of their children. The school districts don't have the resources to be able to make that happen in a timely manner. The process that we are having to go through to stay on top of the school districts, to meet those compliance deadlines, has been a nightmare.
Beasley: Have those deadlines not been met?
Garner: No, they have not. Who thought this was a good idea? When you have children with special needs, there's a lot of joy. My younger son, who is nonverbal, navigates the world and relates to people in a very beautiful and pure way. He brings us so much joy, but there is some grief, so to add to the burden by the only way of being able to participate in the voucher process is having to take on another evaluation process, and one that is so broken, the system is broken, it is very unfair not only to the families, but it's unfair to the public school districts.
Beasley: Going through this process. Is it worth it?
Garner: I think it's too early to say.
Click here to watch an extended conversation with Garner.
