'Our kids are broken'

From The Washington Post-


Episcopal Center's roots in the District reach back 115 years, when it began as a convalescent home for tubercular children. It evolved into an orphanage and, finally, into a treatment facility for kids with severe emotional disturbances. Episcopal Center is also one of the reasons underlying the District's decision to back away from imposing a new rate structure that would limit tuition payments for D.C. special education students attending private schools at public expense.

The revised rates were originally scheduled to take effect this fall, but the Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) agreed to reconsider them after hearing from parents and educators. Any changes in rates will not be effective until next July.

One voice that got their attention was Alan Korz, Episcopal Center's executive director. Forty-five of his 63 students come from public schools in the District that could not meet their needs, and Korz said the new rates posed a threat to the school's long-term ability to treat D.C. children.

He said the proposed $215 a day maximum--about $38,700 for a 180-day school year-- would create a gap of about $45 a day per student. The only way to make it work, Korz said, would be to lay off staff that are needed to help fulfill the children's IEPs (individual education plans, the legal document setting out their program of care and instruction). Nearly all of them, in the K through 6 age range, have already spent time in psychiatric hospitals. They require close and constant support, Korz said, one of the reasons that the center is open 11 months of the year.

"Our kids are broken," he said. "They can't do well in large groups in a public education setting or the offerings that D.C. has to provide."

More here-

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcschools/2010/07/our_kids_are_broken.html