Gov. Cuomo was right last week to veto a bill that could bloat a taxpayer-funded private-school program for special-ed kids.
The bill represents a giant and costly step toward a mini-voucher system — and New York just isn’t ready for that.
But it’s obvious why parents are so eager for vouchers for their kids: Privately run schools — charters, most notably — often outperform traditional schools.
And that’s true not just for special-ed kids with religious or other needs — i.e., the ones the bill targets — or for even just “regular” special-ed kids.
But for all kids.
Bottom line: Giving parents more options makes enormous sense.
The bill would have obliged the city and other districts to pay for private school for special-ed kids deemed educable only in environments that resemble their homes: a yeshiva, say, or a Catholic school.
The courts already force taxpayers to pick up private-school costs when public schools can’t provide adequate special-ed services.
But the measure would have broadened the criteria.
If it became law, special-ed kids’ religious, dress and dietary needs might be grounds to force taxpayers to pay their private-school costs. That would open the door to public funding of religious schools — a no-no under New York’s Blaine Amendment.
More practically, it’s unaffordable: The city and districts across the state already spend more on schools than most folks in other states, and there are no pennies left in the piggy bank for new spending.
And, by the way, parents (with the help of lawyers) often abuse the current system, falsely claiming their kids need private-school services. (The city shells out some $550 million a year for special-ed kids.)
The legislation would’ve made such abuse easier; Cuomo called it “an overly broad and ambiguous mandate” that would have imposed “incalculable significant additional costs” on taxpayers.
He’s right.
Still, you’ve got to sympathize with parents — particularly those with special-ed kids: On recent state tests, only 30 percent of these kids in public schools passed math; just 16 percent did so in reading.
Those at charters, by contrast, did far better: At the Success Academy, for example, 92 percent of special-ed kids made the grade in math, and 70 percent passed English.
Fact is, charters in this city consistently beat out traditional schools. It’s a powerful argument for greater choice — for all kids.
It’s not clear if Albany will ever be able to devise a broad-based voucher system to satisfy Blaine, the teachers union, parents, budgets and other concerns.
But this bill would’ve only made matters worse. Cuomo had no choice but to nix it.