Advice for educators from Wendy Parker, Executive Director of Special Services for Cedar Rapids Schools
I recently became a “retired educator” after 30 plus total years with 27 years as a public school administrator. Most of those years were spent with a focus on special education with my teaching career spent as a teacher of students with behavior disabilities. Many articulate, passionate, and caring public school advocates have spoken on the voucher legislation being proposed in Iowa and I admire and support the positions they have taken on this issue.
I’m going to focus on the underlying issue that is a bedrock of the voucher movement, although it is seldom clarified as such by those who favor the use of public funds to send Iowa students to private schools. To be clear, I abhor this legislation and find it wrong on every level. But, let’s not forget for one moment that this is about “my child not going to school with those kids”. “Those kids” include students with disabilities and private schools have no obligation to enroll students who do not meet the