Federal Funds for Special Education

* Re “A Lesson in Keeping Promises Already Made to Schools,” Commentary, March 24: I couldn’t agree more that the federal government should honor its pledge to fund 40% of the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Act. But Diane Ravitch and Tom Loveless believe schools should “decide locally and without a slew of federal regulations how they want to spend their money”? Let me offer a view from the trenches.

Although my children have always attended private schools, I have dutifully supported every school bond measure, every pro-education proposition, was appropriately anti-voucher and heeded the rallying cry of local control. Then my youngest child was diagnosed with special needs, and I had my first foray into the public school morass.

With no incentive to be competitive, the bureaucrats I have encountered are quite comfortable in their ignorance, belligerence and bigotry and barely conceal their belief that children with disabilities should be segregated because they “bother” the other children and teachers. There are thousands of school districts that need careful monitoring, not permission to run amok with federal dollars. To those of us who parent children who are different, “local control” sounds chillingly like the “states’ rights” slogan of the past. We need federal money, but we also need federal oversight to ensure that the good ol’ boys don’t relegate our kids to the back of the bus.

CATHY ELLIOTT JONES

Ojai