About 13% of public school students in New York State are
enrolled in special education. Educating each of them costs
taxpayers many thousands of dollars more than it does to educate
a regular student. With the financial crisis compelling Gov.
Paterson, Mayor Bloomberg and other officials around the state
to make cuts that have the least impact on services to which we
have become accustomed, now is the time for them to give a
special-education voucher program a second look. Aside from
offering better educational outcomes, such a program would
significantly reduce expenditures. Contrary to popular belief,
tuition charged by private schools, where vouchers can be used,
is actually lower than public school per-pupil expenditures.
Take Florida, which is home to the nation's first voucher
program for disabled students. Under the program, all disabled
students are eligible for a voucher that is worth the lesser of
the amount the public school would have spent on them or the
tuition at a chosen private school. The v