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NOTE: This is the last in a series of posts responding to thoughts made by Eduwonk with respect to Florida’s McKay Scholarship Program for special needs children.  Earlier articles by Ladner may be found here, here and here.  -ed.

So, it is 4th and five from the 8-yard line with only seconds to go in the McKay debate. Both teams are exhausted from battling it out for four quarters. Eduwonk has a 6-point lead, but Ladner has the ball. Ladner makes a few last points before the whistle blows:

-Eduwonk’s claims that severe disability kids should be over-represented in McKay, but private schools specializing in high-end disabilities have their cost structures determined by the law-suit/outsourcing system of the status-quo (i.e. they may be built around $100k per year, while the McKay offers only a maximum of $21k per year or so). Given that children with severe disabilities are being served by McKay, just not over-served, this seems like a small problem rather than a horrible flaw.

-Eduwonk cites the special education meltdown in Washington D.C. as some sort of cautionary tale for McKay. I don’t get it. With 2,283 students costing the DCPS $118 million per year, the average tuition scored through the status-quo lawsuit system is a mind-boggling $51,000 per year. In the meantime, the entire state of Florida spent about $97,000,000 to give 15,910 students McKay Scholarships. In other words, Florida gave choice to about seven times as many students while spending 18% less. This doesn’t take into account all the litigation costs that DCPS must be enduring. Far from a cautionary tale against McKay, this is something DCPS should implement pronto to protect their budget from the deadly combination of rent-seeking lawyers and their own special education incompetence. The key improvements of McKay: no need for a lawsuit, students are entitled to take only the money allocated for them, rather than scoring some gigantic bounty.

-Ultimately, McKay is about providing a more level playing field and giving the most disadvantaged and most poorly served group of students in the public education system a shot at attending a school that will focus on their needs. Any of us who are the parents of young children are in essence sitting behind the Rawlsian veil of ignorance – we don’t know whether our children will ultimately struggle with a disability or not. Education sophisticates like Andy and myself can probably navigate the horrible maze of special education if need be. We can access attorneys, etc. McKay simply makes the whole process easier and cuts everyone a square deal by giving them funds equal to the public school funding.

-At the beginning of this debate, I describe McKay as the nation’s best voucher program. I still believe that. It serves terribly disadvantaged children, and does so efficiently, and their parents love the program. Sure feels like a game winning touchdown to me!

Dr. Matthew Ladner is a former director of state projects for the Alliance for School Choice, and is presently vice president of research at the Goldwater Institute.  A graduate of the University of Texas, he prays devoutly before a statue of St. Vincent in the direction of Mecca Austin five times a day.