Republican Sen. Dusty Deevers has put his name on SB 1017. It is worth a read.

SB 1017 calls for removing from schools the responsibility for providing a wide range of services to accommodate children with special needs. Normally, the Special Education department of a school would specify what accommodations will help a qualified student learn on the child’s IEP [Individualized Education Plan]. This is mandated under the IDEA Act [Individuals with Disabilities Education Act], federal law since 1975.

If SB 1017 becomes state law, services deemed as “medical” in nature would become the responsibility of Oklahoma’s Medicaid program instead of the schools. So, what, according to Deevers, is medical?

Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Behavioral Therapy, Psychological Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Social Work services, and “any related services identified as therapy,” under the provisions of this abominable bill, “shall not be written into the IEP.”

In other words, schools don’t have to provide or pay for those services to help students with documented special needs learn.

The bill’s contortion to [fail, but try to] comply with the IDEA Act is to shift the cost of these “medical services” to Oklahoma’s Medicaid program. Logical, right? After all, Medicaid has all but the last letter of “medical” in its name!

This bill has three fundamental flaws [at least!]:

First, Medicaid is not an option for every child. Many children on IEPs are not Medicaid-eligible because of means testing and other eligibility criteria [such as immigration status]. Many of these children’s families who cannot get Medicaid can also not afford to pay for these services out of pocket [PT, OT, Speech Therapy, etc.]. Private insurance doesn’t always cover them, not to mention the plight of the uninsured.

Second, stripping social work services from the IEP means removing staff whose responsibilities include linking families to community resources, which would be all that more crucial were school-provided services no longer available.

Third, can our state’s Medicaid program afford to cover these services in addition to what they’re already providing? Will an expanded Medicaid budget be appropriated to cover these services? This is not addressed.

The United States public education system is truly bold. By mandating that free public education must be made available to all children in “the least restrictive environment” under federal law, the mission of our nation’s public schools became radically progressive [at least in terms of access]. It isn’t true in every country. This is one of the reasons why teaching in public schools is such a challenge, and so important a profession. It integrates education with social justice. Importantly, note that this is public schools we’re talking about.

SB 1017 undermines that mission. Why?

It is quite possible the good senator came up with this on his own for some bent reason. My guess, however, is that someone told him it would be a neat idea.

Who might benefit from such a thing?

While public schools for decades have absorbed the responsibility to provide accommodations to Special Ed students, private schools have been exempt. They are not required to do so because they operate without the support of tax dollars.

But wait. What about “school choice” vouchers? This recent and growing trend to shift public funds to private schools through vouchers or “scholarships” puts those private schools in a bit of a pickle. If they receive tax dollars to subsidize [in part or in full] a child’s education, the trade-off is that they become subject to the provisions of the IDEA Act. Many of these schools are in the habit of turning students who need accommodations away rather than invest in a Special Education department and develop IEPs, with their accompanying services.

Certain elected state officials have been wildly gung ho about blurring the lines between public and private education through “choice.” One can’t help but wonder whether this is part of the political will behind Deeter’s bill.

Either way, now that this bill has seen the light of day, the political will to defeat it is needed. During the opening days of the legislative session, SB 1017 has already gone through two readings and been assigned to committees. It will first be heard in the Senate Health and Human Services Committee, and from there the Appropriations Committee.

People need to be, first, aware that this bill exists and that it is moving forward. Second, people need to communicate their views about the bill to members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee right away and persistently throughout this legislative session. Committee members can be identified here, along with their contact information.

Please put this bill on your radar and track its progress between now and the end of the session in May. This is one that needs to be stopped. Let’s keep a modicum of social justice alive in our schools.