They Work Hard For Their Money

From The Tribune, we see:

Vouchers control special ed growth:

"The financial incentive to misdiagnose is particularly apparent when classifying students as having a specific learning disability (SLD). That's because SLD is the most common, the most ambiguous, and the least costly category of special education. In many cases, school officials might simply be trying to get extra resources to help struggling students. But the net effect is the misclassification of a huge number of students as having an SLD.
The McKay program reduces the financial incentive for Florida's schools to misdiagnose learning disabilities by placing revenue at risk whenever a student is placed into special education"

I keep hearing rumors that our public education system is filled with professional educators from top to bottom.

Check this out:

IDEA 2004 Close Up: Evaluation and Eligibility for Specific Learning Disabilities - Legal rights and advocacy | GreatSchools:

"Recognizing that the 'discrepancy' approach was resulting in both late identification and misidentification of SLD, Congress included a new provision in IDEA 2004 stating that school districts are not required to take into account a severe discrepancy between ability (IQ) and achievement when determining whether a student has a specific learning disability. In updating IDEA Congress clearly indicated a strong desire to see schools begin to use procedures to identify SLD that are more relevant to the instruction students receive in the classroom. To encourage such change, IDEA 2004 included an additional provision stating that school districts could use a process designed to determine if a student responds to scientific, research-based intervention as a part of the evaluation procedures."

So, just because a student has straight A's (achievement) does not mean that the student does not have a disability. Not that a school system would ever inflate a student's grades to keep the parent from having more evidence that the student has a disability that the school system refuses to accommodate.

Here is another concept that I just can't seem to fit into my rutabaga pie recipe. Is it possible for a "non-disabled student" to actually have a learning disability? Is it possible for a student that has a learning disability to be "misclassified" as a disabled student?

Vouchers control special ed growth:

"If a school determines that an academically struggling, non-disabled student has a learning disability, it might get the additional subsidy from the state, but it might also lose that subsidy, and all of the student's base-funding, if the student walks out the door with a voucher. McKay makes schools think twice before misclassifying a student"

This speaks to the arrogance of school systems. The student doesn't have a disability until the school system says it does. Or does it?

IDEA - Building The Legacy of IDEA 2004:

"(b) Basis of knowledge. A public agency must be deemed to have knowledge that a child is a child with a disability if before the behavior that precipitated the disciplinary action occurred--
(1) The parent of the child expressed concern in writing to supervisory or administrative personnel of the appropriate educational agency, or a teacher of the child, that the child is in need of special education and related services;
(2) The parent of the child requested an evaluation of the child pursuant to Sec. Sec. 300.300 through 300.311; or
(3) The teacher of the child, or other personnel of the LEA, expressed specific concerns about a pattern of behavior demonstrated by the child directly to the director of special education of the agency or to other supervisory personnel of the agency."