School Choice, Private Schools and the Continuum of Alternative Placements #school choice

The readers of this blog are very smart. I could write on this topic for many days, but here is a very clear recent example:

We recently ran a post on OSEP non-regulatory guidance concerning the meaning of the Endrew F Supreme Court decision. One of our smart readers called to my attention that the OSEP guidance provides the following for Q & A 17:

"17. How does the Endrew F. decision impact placement decisions? 

Consistent with the decision in Endrew F., the Department continues to recognize that it is essential to make individualized determinations about what constitutes appropriate instruction and services for each child with a disability and the placement in which that instruction and those services can be provided to the child. There is no “one-size-fits-all” approach to educating children with disabilities. Rather, placement decisions must be individualized and made consistent with a child’s IEP. We note that placement in regular classes may not be the least restrictive placement for every child with a disability. The IDEA Part B regulations specify that each public agency must ensure that a continuum of alternative placements (including instruction in regular classes, special classes, special schools, home instruction, placement in private schools, and instruction in hospitals and institutions) is available to meet the needs of children with disabilities for special education and related services." (emphasis added)

The federal regulations provide as follows: 

"§ 300.115 Continuum of alternative placements. (a) Each public agency must ensure that a continuum of alternative placements is available to meet the needs of children with disabilities for special education and related services. (b) The continuum required in paragraph (a) of this section must— (1) Include the alternative placements listed in the definition of special education under §300.38 (instruction in regular classes, special classes, special schools, home instruction, and instruction in hospitals and institutions);..."

As you can see the words "placement in private schools" are added to the OSEP guidance, but are not contained in the federal regulations. The statement by OSEP is not wrong, where an LEA cannot provide FAPE to a student in a public school, it may have to place the child in a private school. Given the current education policy debate around school choice however, you can see where this inclusion of these particular words beyond those in the regulation could cause some concern. 

Regarding school choice, here is  one of our posts on a GAO report calling for federal legislation requiring states to notify parents of students with disabilities about changes in special ed rights in voucher/choice programs. Here are two NPR stories on school choice policy issues. 

So what do you think is the addition of the words "placement in private schools" -a sinister and draconian policy decision, or merely a correct statement of the law or something in between, or something else? {I believe that this covers all possibilities, but if you have another description, I'd like to hear it.}

You can review the OSEP non-regulatory guidance on the Endrew F decision here.