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| What is McKay? |
What is the McKay Scholarship According to Florida Statute?
229.05371 (1) THE JOHN M. MCKAY SCHOLARSHIPS FOR STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES PROGRAM.--The John M. McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program is established to provide the option to attend a public school other than the one to which assigned, or to provide a scholarship to a private school of choice, for students with disabilities for whom an individual education plan has been written in accordance with rules of the Commissioner of Education or the State Board of Education. Students with disabilities include K-12 students who are mentally handicapped, speech and language impaired, deaf or hard of hearing, visually impaired, dual sensory impaired, physically impaired, emotionally handicapped, specific learning disabled, hospitalized or homebound, or autistic. As of this date, according to opportunityschools.org, the eligibility requirements are as follows:
- "The student must have been enrolled and reported in a Florida public school during the October 2003 and February 2004 FTE surveys (Grades K-12)
- have an Individual Education Plan (IEP)
- have completed a year of kindergarten"
Note: It's been rumored to us in regard to the requirement that the student must have completed a year of kindergarten, that this may change to include Pre-K. We will keep you up-to-date if this is indeed the case. You can also check the opportunityschools.org web site for any updates to the eligibility requirements.
How was the Mckay Scholarship Developed ??
The Mckay was developed in Sarasota County in 1999 through a pilot program. Original McKay legislation did not allow private schools to collect any tuition differences between the amount of McKay Scholarship awarded and the private school's usual tuition rate. This red-flagged Special Education programs as being grossly underfunded since few private schools would enroll as providers. Instead of recognizing and correcting funding discrepancies, Mckay Scholarship legislation was quickly redrafted, and marketed to mislead parents into thinking that "Florida's school choice programs ensure that no child will be left behind by allowing parents to choose the best educational setting—public or private—for their child." Florida legislators happily allowed unhappy parents to provide welfare to public schools systems by having them pick up the difference between McKay Scholarship funding and private school tuition. The McKay Scholarship marketing scheme is quick to point out that disabled kids can go to private school but fails to state that parents will be providing transportation and parents will be making up the difference financially. "The McKay Scholarships for Students with Disabilities Program provided nearly 9,000 Florida students with special needs the opportunity to attend a private school during the 2002-2003 school year. The McKay Scholarships Program also offers parents public school choice. A parent of a special needs student who is dissatisfied with the student’s current school may choose to transfer the student to another public school." www.opportunityschools.org/info/McKay/default.asp?&noCache=2004416233355
What This All Means Now and Future Issues. . . .
In its present legislative form, the only accountability that exists is from parents. The Department of Education in Florida realistically cannot be accountable to special needs children, as they refuse to recognize the need for substantial increased funding of Exceptional Student Education, therefore they cannot and will not make other organizations (private or public) accountable either.
To parents this can mean a number of things. The amount of funding given for McKay Scholarship will not change drastically year to year unless public education funding changes. This funding under present written legislation will be available until the child is 22 years old. For children who have milder disabilities, it may be possible to have enough funding without paying out of pocket unless private schools raise tuition rates. For children who have severe health and learning disabilities, parents most likely will be paying with the family’s dollars, the difference between McKay funding and private school tuition. (What a Choice...)
To this author's knowledge, legislators are presently looking at closing some “loopholes” in regards to McKay scholarship funding. “Hospital Homebound” children most likely will be subject to reevaluation as to whether they are “eligible” for McKay funding as the label of “Hospital Homebound” according to the state is thought to be in most cases temporary (broken leg or other situation that heals quickly). The possibility exists however that because so many additional “Rating Points” are given for “Hospital Homebound ( 13 points ) the state may more be concerned that it is “over funding” a child for services. This could mean that a child who is reevaluated by the state would end up with reduced McKay funding or lose McKay scholarship funding altogether. (page 5 of the PDF document) www.faccs.org/progs_serv/leg_updates/leg_happ_10_20_03_b.pdf from The Florida Senate: Interim Project Report October 2003. This document while difficult to read provides some insight as to how legislators view special needs children.
McKay Scholarship Accountability
Because of abuses of the McKay Scholarship, the state legislature passed SB 256 in May of 2006. Although this bill tries to address accountability issues, this bill also has severed the option to use the McKay Scholarship for certain students. Those families who have students who cannot attend a regular private school due to medical, severe dietary, behaviorial or other issues are no longer given an appropriate educational choice. In the past, the parents of these specially vulnerable children could enroll them in a private "600" school so that they could provide them with a home-based education with qualified teachers/therapist coming to their home on a daily basis. This is no longer the case. Certain language in the bill compells private school students to show up at the school's physical location on a daily basis. In many instances, this is counter-productive for the student. In my own experience, because my child has severe behavorial issues (self-injurious behavior and aggression), I could not even enroll her in two of the private schools in my area who could have possibly served her. Both schools were unable to provide an educational setting due to fear of property damage, possible personal injury to my daughter, and the possibility of providing an modified classroom was out of the question due to the fact that it is cost prohibitive. We do not know if any special accomodations are going to be provided for these children, although suggestions have been submitted so that these children will not go unserved.
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