Left Behind

c) Findings.--Congress finds the following:

``(1) Disability is a natural part of the human experience
and in no way diminishes the right of individuals to participate
in or contribute to society. Improving educational results for
children with disabilities is an essential element of our
national policy of ensuring equality of opportunity, full participation,
independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for
individuals with disabilities.

Individuals With Disabilities Education Reform Act of 2004

When George Bush left office he cited No Child Left Behind as one of his crowning presidential achievements that history would credit to his great legacy. Like anything or anyone who was touched by Bushco, the education system and the attendant rights of children were ravaged, raped and crapped on.

For example, Texas is able to do TAKS assessments on all children, irrespective of disability-related accommodations; there is no standard alternative. Everybody tests, and many of these children demonstrate needs for help, but don't get any.

As Texas pushes ever forward towards the privatization of public education, parents of children with learning challenges turn to church schooling as an alternative. Since church schools have absolutely no state regulation as to curriculum of special education programs (even the mere requirement for any) who knows how many children with learning and emotional disabilities are neglected educationally and otherwise?

Plainly, the state has an interest in what happens to people once they are on church property. The mass invasion by child protective services and the department of public safety onto the orthodox LDS compound to root out potential hot teen-bride sexiness (i.e. institutional child rape) is a good example of when the State of Texas draws the line on religious freedom. However, as the director of curriculum for the Texas Department of Education told me, there is no requirement for church schools to conform or comply to any state standards or to assess any learning problems. Nor have any church schools have ever sought voluntary compliance through recommendations from state.

A great article on-line from Richard R. Hammar, J.D., LL.M., CPA, at churchlawtoday.com entitled "Government Regulation of Private Schools" explains:

By Richard R. Hammar, J.D., LL.M., CPA

"(T)the United States Supreme Court has affirmed that "[t]here is no doubt as to the power of a state, having a high responsibility for education of its citizens, to impose reasonable regulations for the control and duration of basic education."2 The Supreme Court also has observed:

[A] substantial body of case law has confirmed the power of the states to insist that attendance at private schools, if it is to satisfy state compulsory--attendance laws, be at institutions which provide minimum hours of instruction, employ teachers of specified training, and cover prescribed subjects of instruction . . . [and that] if the state must satisfy its interest in secular education through the instrument of private schools, it has a proper interest in the manner in which those schools perform their secular educational function.

In resolving the issue the court applied a three--pronged test formulated by the United States Supreme Court in the landmark case of Wisconsin v. Yoder:

1. Was the activity with which the state interfered motivated by and rooted in a legitimate and sincerely held religious belief?

2. Was the right to the free exercise of religion unduly burdened by the state regulation, and if so, what was the extent of its impact on religious practices?

3. Did the state have a sufficiently "compelling" interest in the regulation to justify the burden on the free exercise of religion?


Legally, church schools may not discriminate. Any child has the right to attend, the laws make no explicit exception to the disabled. ADA still applies, and such a child still possesses the same rights under the IEDA. I think that nobody has really challenged the church's responsibilities for providing "the least restrictive" educational environment standard to their students. No such obligation appears to infringe on the church's religious freedoms. Indeed, it would seem their Christian responsibility.

As it stands, I predict more intense lobbying from parent's groups and others to use voucher money to set up private schools serving the needs of the disabled and learning impaired to plug the gap on declining school services in this area. Thus, further funneling more resources out of the fund of public school resources.

We'll be reaping the whirlwind of George Bush's legacy for a long time to come.