Letter to the Editor: Help available
BY Robert M. Peters, Bartlesville
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Although seldom mentioned by
the media, it is a fact that thousands
of boys and girls with special
needs are receiving individualized
instruction in Oklahoma public
schools through the federal Individuals
with Disabilities Education
Act.
This program features rigorous
accountability, and has been in successful
operation for several decades.
In the March 28 Tulsa World,
state Superintendent of Public Instruction
Janet Barresi, expressed
her sympathy for the “undue stress
and burden … placed on families
with special needs” by the court ruling
that House Bill 3393 is unconstitutional
and therefore invalid.
Barresi is, after all, state superintendent
for our public schools,
not the state superintendent for
private education. Instead of political
maneuvering to try to resurrect
this failed attempt to infuse private
schools with public money, perhaps
she should devote her immense talent
and energy to re-enrolling the
149 special-needs students under
the federal Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. This help is
still available.
Letters to the editor are encouraged. Send letters to letters@tulsaworld.com.
