Small: A big win for children with special needs

A big win for children with special needs

By Jonathan Small

Since its creation in 2010, the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarships for Students with Disabilities (LNH) program has provided a lifeline to families whose children have special needs and cannot receive appropriate educational services in their local district.

Under longstanding Oklahoma law, local school districts receive additional state funds for each child with special needs. But that doesn’t always mean the extra money is used effectively. In the worst instances, public schools have effectively pocketed the extra cash without providing real benefit to the child with special needs.

That’s why the LNH program allows parents to use state funds allocated for their child’s education to pay for private-school tuition. The scholarships range from $4,196 to $22,236, based on a child’s diagnosis.

But there has been one major flaw. Children must attend a public school for at least a year before qualifying for LNH. That forces some families to effectively waste another year of their child’s limited learning time. When a child is already far behind academically, it is cruel to force them to wait another year before addressing the problem.

For example, Karly McEntire’s oldest daughter was diagnosed with dyslexia, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), dysgraphia, dyscalculia, and pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders (PANDAS). But that diagnosis did not happen until the child was in second grade, and the local school had already proven unable to provide needed services.

As a result, the family tried both homeschooling and enrolling the girl in a traditional private school, but neither option succeeded.

Then the family learned about Trinity School at Edgemere, which is devoted to children with learning challenges. However, because the school is focused on special-needs students, its tuition is higher than the rate at other private schools. Without an LNH scholarship, the school was out of reach for the McEntire family. Unfortunately, because the family had pulled their daughter out of public school before learning about both Trinity and LNH, she no longer qualified for a scholarship.

They had to re-enroll the girl in public school for another year to receive the LNH scholarship that allowed her to attend a school truly focused on children with special needs – a school where she is thriving today.

To end this problem, Senate Bill 105, by state Sen. Julie Daniels and state Rep. Chad Caldwell, eliminates the one-year requirement.

This is a major victory that provides children with swifter access to interventions and specialized education, thus boosting their chances of long-term success.

The goal of education is not to prioritize one school over another, but to provide the best education possible to every child. SB 105 achieves that goal, and Oklahoma families will be better off as a result.

Jonathan Small serves as president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs.