Rich Disabled Kids Get the City to Send Them to Private School. Poor Disabled Kids Get Screwed.

[@ericking4072]

There's a special place in hell for those discriminatory scumbags😠😠

[@debralittle1341]

That's wrong. Their parents can afford to pay.

[@lkjhb1]

If they can afford it they should pay. It's too bad that if your autistic child wants to be accepted and treated good in a school you have to be rich to send them to a private school. Most public school systems use ABA and don't treat autistic children too well. The school that treated me the best was a private school in Manhattan that did not use ABA but only the rich could afford unless you fought the DOE to pay to send your kid to that school.

[@KittredgeRitter]

If they're rich then why don't they just pay for private school themselves.

[@jacknelsongod15]

Joshua Phillips they ain't that rich

[@nespith]

I like how fixing the schools isn't even considered a opinion.

[@Letrus100]

You really think nobody thought of that already, the problem is beyond simply "we can fix schools". There is no incentive to fix the schooling system for the government, sure you can improve it slightly, but when you get money either way there is not as much incentive as a private market.

[@nespith]

Jenn D They wouldn't, it goes against their Neoliberal lolbertarian ideology.

[@ILovePancakes24]

They won't fix them. Their purpose is to be the bottom rung for the lower classes.

[@MTknitter22]

The publishing exec and his wife are sickening. He can afford private school but he makes others pay

[@MrKAHutch]

I hate when people use euphemisms, these people did not sue the "city" they sued their friends, neighbors, and other city residents to force them to pay for their kids exorbitantly expensive education.

[@user-cz9jf1ec8s]

$55k per year to educate one child. ... They're not a bunch of Helen Kellers. There's no reason for the average to be that high, even for special needs.

[@Meton2526]

Helen Keller probably wasn't using public funding either. $55k is not really that extreme for special needs. The government wastes a lot of money trying to educate people with disabilities because of just how inefficiently they can make use of those funds.

[@jrho8033]

That's the real issue here. Those "Premier Private Schools" that charge so much for tuition likely have a huge profit margin causing the parent to sue for a higher amount. Essentially they are "for-profit" schools. But like the school shown in the video, it's possible to for a school to specializes in special needs and deliver a high quality education for a much lower price.

[@Meton2526]

Public education distorts any semblance of a free market. If there were a free market in education, then schools would have to compete on price and value. Because there is a huge barrier to entry, and a low cost (but extremely low value) public option, then good private schools can charge what they want to people who have the money to pay. The fact that a state has to pay 55k to a lawsuit is just the government paying for a problem that the government created. Were there no public education, the state would have no responsibility to provide special needs, and wouldn't be paying anything. Were there more freedom in private / charter school options, the state could point to the alternatives as viable options for her. But there aren't. The teachers' Unions have taken control of education in more left wing states with less liberty (to contradict the misnomer of them in any way being "liberal") that have forced this issue to come about. The state is paying because the state assumed responsibility for the care and liability of the most expensive people in the state. Forced altruism at its finest; working as designed. From each according to their ability, to each according to their need. Either fall in line, or we'll send people with guns to take you away to a dungeon for enough of your life that you'll fall in line.

[@KevinSmith-qi5yn]

It's New York and Connecticut. It's the price inflation of the area.

[@PoliticalWeekly]

@Nika D what state are you in?

[@ScreaminMime]

Solution: Privatize ALL the schools, each kids gets a voucher to go where they choose. Publik skools and their unions ARE the drain on education.

[@brucebogtrotter3430]

Single mother with three kids suing for free education is now being portrayed as heroic by Reason TV!?! What is this world coming to?

[@gus1552]

The state takes her money with taxation, I think its fair

[@ILovePancakes24]

You pay for these schools via taxes

[@brucebogtrotter3430]

lmao this isn't a name she doesn’t. She is a burden onto the rest of us

[@brucebogtrotter3430]

*ungrateful burden

[@clare1971]

Sad but true, money talks

[@operaticcat1892]

It's not a "privilege" to have the agency to get on a computer and research what your options are. If parents are too stupid, or don't care enough to spend a few hours Googling information and advice on how to best help their child, then the astronomical cost of "special ed" for their kid is very likely a poor public investment. Every dollar diverted from kids with a high likelihood of never making a net positive contribution to society gets taken away from the kids who very likely WILL. Not only that, most of the high-cost special-ed kids who cost the taxpayers a fortune to "educate" will end up continuing to be a financial drain on society for their entire lives via "gov benefits" and welfare programs! Truth and reality don't care about anyone's fee-feels.

[@RowenaSnow-px3jg]

Research the options yourself and post your wonderful finds here. IF you find anything wonderful. That would be more useful than posting assumptions.

[@Lacocacolaman]

That damn lady needs to stop having kids. I'm going to sue her to stop having sex.

[@blakejameson1114]

"Him and his ex-wife......" "there daughter had crippling anxiety"

[@KevinSmith-qi5yn]

*their I know you appreciate it.

[@folasadeosibodu7119]

That’s the problem right there

[@Joell5678]

$55,000 per child is far too much to spend. Sorry, but some education and children are not worth the working tax payer to pay for their education. If the parents want to spend the cash to educate their child, then so be it, otherwise, those children get what all other citizens get.

[@Keviva007]

Why did the mother have another two children while already having a child with special needs? It’s a given that special needs kids need more care and support and their disability is likely genetic so it may not be wise to have another child.

[@FlCajun85]

as a mother with a special needs child in Florida- it doesn't matter whether your rich or poor, we have a program here called the McKay Scholarship that can send special needs kids to other schools outside of their district (whether it be private or something other), and it has nothing to do with income, it has to do with having a special needs child.

[@itsvenombro3058]

My special education teachers didn’t give a jack shit about me after I graduate high school There just left me with the wolves they didn’t even give me any support or any service program after I graduate they did not even talk to me about my future

[@alishathehistorynerd9726]

Public schools in most states do not provide appropriate settings for our special needs children. Having a young child with schizophrenia, I was told she was being placed with behavioral disturbed children. My daughter hallucinates and hears voices, she’s not aggressive or a behavior issue. We utilized her McKay scholarship, through her IEP, to place her in a special needs private school. It was the ONLY reason she could attend school.

[@lkjhb1]

They think we autistic people have a lot of behavior problems and stuff. Where I live autism is considered both a behavior disorder and a communication disorder sadly. Not just a communication disorder. Down here in Virginia Beach VA. I was treated like I was a bad person in school but I did nothing wrong.

[@alishathehistorynerd9726]

lkjhb1 it’s awful that they treated you that way. It’s sad how poorly neurotypicals are treated. I’m sorry you were made to feel like that.

[@screamtoasigh9984]

I went to pubic sped school. It was a joke. Under resourced? In NYC public schools? Sell me another one. It's government run, there's never enough money. This is perfect example for school choice, and to get rid of public unions.

[@MataHari1994]

good public education is the foundation of society

[@jgn1977]

If you start giving money to people with disabled kids, the amount of disabled kids is going to skyrocket. Just look at the lady who as luck would have it, has 3 disabled kids. Hmmmmm

[@ghxstleader485]

Mr. Tophat of course it will happen. Muh free stuff

[@Boristien405]

Unintended consequence. If ran efficiently and monitored, that wouldn’t be a probably.

[@jimlovesgina]

When you reward people for having kids, it is not surprising that they have more kids. When your first child eats most of your income due to special needs, is it wise to have a second? A third?

[@beareggers]

I work with special needs students, it's always interesting to talk with some of their parents. Sometimes the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

[@Meton2526]

I came here to comment this. How many disabled children do you need to have before you get the message that you're not physically fit to reproduce? I'm sorry that facts are uncomfortable and that people don't want to acknowledge it, but this woman needs to take a hint and stop breeding. The economics are exemplified in her behavior, and she found "success" in suing the state for greater amounts of welfare, so she continued in her behavior that she was rewarded for.

[@timmcclure2096]

Abolish public school system. Make parents responsible for their child's education and they will demand better quality.

[@MTknitter22]

Gee where is the main stream media??

[@trixietru]

Great story! What good education comes down to is good teachers; teachers who can get through to the students by showing them they care.

[@jkmatt1]

Again reason misses the point. A school is simply a building that has four walls and a roof. It doesn't matter if its publicly own or privately own. What makes a school is the individuals who attend it. So if a school is chaotic. Then the individuals attending it are the engines of chaos. Private schools can get rid of their chaos where public schools cannot.

[@Melissa0774]

This channel has the most blunt, to the point video titles I've ever seen.

[@MTknitter22]

So DO THE RICH ONES START A MOVEMENT TOHELP EVERYONE? NOPE. DO THESE PARENTS BLAME THE ELECTED DEMOCRATS? NOPE.

[@grantlo321]

It's saddening how those "affluent" parents are so narrow minded they aren't able to grasp the reality that by asserting their child as disabled labels them as disabled for life. I mean sure it may be easy to believe that a 10 year old child has a learning disability, so it's off to private school for them, but when they hit working age (and as an employer) I would pass on their resume for someone who was a team player and survived the normal curriculum. Those parents are forever ensuring their kids will be subordinate to the likes of a well versed individual who was able to endure the challenges of every day life regardless of financial status. Anyways, the future is not so much about school, it's about access to information.

[@PoliticalWeekly]

Learning disability is basically a death sentence, but it's a real genetic disorder. How else are you going to teach them?

[@ty2010]

Money isn't the issue though, those private schools are a failure as much as the public. For a good example of a workable program > www.mercerdd.org/

[@ravenghostly1472]

That father uses tax players money to ship the the daughter he does not want to boarding school. It is also very excessive to send her for just anxiety.

[@jacknelsongod15]

Raven Ghostly anxiety can be pretty brutal if you have it really bad. But agreed if it was just mild anxiety

[@FAILG0AT]

'Rich get to, poor don't get to' If they were rich they could afford the private school. How would the poor lose these cases but rich win? These cases are identical in content, no? I don't see how this is rich vs poor.

[@wholesome122]

Better lawyers and the option to sue in the first place

[@Melissa0774]

Does any anyone think the 1975 IDEA law was a missed opportunity for vouchers for everyone, like a lot of libertarians would want to see? Instead of providing the special education programs themselves, the public school system should just pay for disabled kids to go wherever they want? Was anybody arguing for that back then? If it had happened, do you think that over time, more and more things would've qualified as disabilities, until it got to the point where almost anyone could go to any school they want to and have the government pay for it?

[@Blindlygoingmandy]

There aren’t enough private schools. I also urge you to learn about disability rights history to see why that wasn’t conceived of at that time in US history as it relates to disability. It’s a far more complex issue than many realize.

[@tristx7832]

wait...middle class are now considered rich? since when? Those parents don't look rich or act rich so where are the rich entitled part? Truth be told, there are tons of programs for special need kids available in public school so It sounds like there is a lot of misinformation.

[@PhilJLF]

Yeah... it’s called money.

[@Alliefrownie]

Suing and getting free tuition is supposed to be punitive damages against the city for not allowing schools to be up to code. If the city wants to stop paying for these so-called “rich freeloaders” they need to update their public education for disabled people. I feel like the shame implied on the rich families is misdirected. The city has the money. We just need to spend it better.

[@brianronan1905]

Lack of resources haha?!? My district had 6 vice principals in 2 schools and most were basically nonessential. Getting rid of the bureaucracy will lower costs and make quality education more accessible as a whole for everyone. The best way to do that is create a free market in which schools who invest in useless executives will be weeded out by economics. This will never happen because of the teacher's union, however.

[@lsh3rd]

LBI, NJ!!

[@StratEdgyProductions]

This is a great video. I recently released a bunch of videos about public education and the learning disabled portion of this needed to be its own video. I'm glad Reason tackled it.

[@KlarenceMS]

Me as I'm Autism I don't need these 🏫 expensive when I'm get older I learn everything thanks to Internet and people ... With Without mental problem.

[@chris0000924]

Welfare state man #shrinkthegovernment

[@themanhimself1229]

which one?

[@sheepbeeps3369]

Didn't you just put up a video with Stossel saying how wonderful this system was?

[@Cheeseburger.Launch.Sequence]

Steven Corcoran, on one side you have democrats. On the other side, republicans. In the middle a bunch of libertarians running in confused circles.

[@Silence-Dogood]

I used to think it was a matter of funding, but I no longer think that way. I believe it is expectations in school and especially at home that make the most difference. Parents that are involved in their children's education see more success. This doesn't mean a parent has to understand all that is taught, they just need to be involved and informed. Some of the worst schools, based on graduation rates and test scores, are funded more than schools out performing them. Catholic schools, charter schools, and similar semi private and private schools do a better job of preparing students with a lot less funding per student. Resources and funding does come into play but that is at a more advanced level, when we have everyone running. Right now, we have some crawling and others, at best, a quick walk. My statement does not take into account disabled kids. In those situations, it really is dependent on the type of disability. If the need is significantly greater than average then greater resources are going to help.

[@dragonspy91]

I'm sorry, but if you first kid is disabled. Whats the chance your next is also going to be disabled? Its very high. If she would have stopped having kids after the first, she wouldnt have been in this damn problem and required taxes payers to foot the fucking bill.

[@goomni72]

What is the age difference between the kids? She did not find out about the first one's disabilities at birth. How do you know that she knew about them before having the next two kids.

[@ShiningSakura]

We need to pay more towards Good education of our children! Pro choice is just one way to help, but paying teacher what they deserve is another. It is an investment in our future! Take a moment to think of this: They will be the ones helping you in your old age in therapy, inventing, building, counseling, work in hospitals, or even becoming the leaders of tomorrow. If those same kids are limited on education, than their future isn't as bright as it could be. They will be less likely to succeed which translates to less able to help you latter in life. They will also be less able to earn more money and pay it forward to social security (which if it still is around when you get to that age you will need more than ever with dropping childbirth rates. Immigration can only go so far; especially if they don't contribute). Children our our future for better or for worse. we cut them short and we in turn will be cut short.

[@Jkp1321]

I always have to come down to the utilitarian argument that spending public money on certain disabled students who will not be able to pay that money back with a career and taxes is a waste. It's mean but pragmatic

[@sewawearofdajew5897]

WTF gives that Jew the right to get 145,000 dollars a year to send his daughter to CT.......for anxiety? Why does she have anxiety in the first place? Where's DCF and why aren't they checking into some of these families for the less severe? Just try working/spending time with her. She is your daughter! Privatize all schools!!

[@chirhoiota885]

This is a very slanted news story. Totally one sided; focusing on people with insane entitlement mentalities and hardly mentioning all of the free resources available for disabled children in New York City. I know affluent families in New York who send their normal kids to private school and their disabled kids to public school, and they heap praise on the city's resources for special education. The public schools provide personalized curricula, they hire private companies to provide after0school tutoring, counseling, and job and life training programs. One kid I know was allowed to stay in his high school for an extra year to receive totally free job training... the government/taxpayers pick up the bill for all of this. I know another kid with a rare communication disability whose New York City public school hired a specialist to come in and help design a communication tablet device specifically catered to this ONE New York City public school kid. This was totally free; they spent months training the kid and his parents to use the device. The city organized the entire thing! This news story hardly gives a fair account of the services available to New York City disabled kids.

[@themanhimself1229]

The %1 my friend

[@homewall744]

When demanding what should be your right under the law, being rich means you can sue, while the poor just get pushed out as they rarely can afford the costs of legal representation. We live in a country in which the law is by, for and of the lawyer-class.

[@themanhimself1229]

Shink the Gov and Drain the swamp

[@jaythrash8804]

How is teaching someone to be independent and self reliant a bad thing? It's better money spent on that rather than more prisons, and having more people dependent on the government.

[@Meton2526]

"This was totally free" no, "This was totally paid for by other people."

[@jessicacole8404]

This makes me pro school choice

[@lindadickey7200]

terrific video---Pathways is inspiring

[@Ava_Orchid]

I feel bad for the kids but its truly the govs fault for allowing the public schools to be so terrible. If you made the public schools better than you wouldnt be needing to spend so much on private schools. Instead of throwing up your hands and complaining about laws that have been in place for decades DO SOMETHING to make the damn public schools better for these kids. You will pay now or later. Tax payers will pay now for the brief adolescence of these kids or pay for them until they die. I know there are lots of selfish stupid people out there who only are capable of thinking about a 3 cent tax hike today and dont compute that better schools mean not having to pay for these individuals complete care for their adult lives but screw them. Many of these kids could have a productive tax paying future but not if they are treated like cattle. Pay up front for the education and therapy and avoid paying for a life time on disability and welfare for the children the public school produces that can NOT function

[@Ava_Orchid]

We are so damn short term in the USA without any regard for future. We cant see the forest through the trees and love to cut our noses off to spite our face.

[@adamJKpunk]

The simplest solution is the best, just reduce all politicians salary’s to 50k/ year. Problem solved.

[@Meton2526]

Or 0. Taxation is theft, and there's no moral justification you could ever possibly give for forcing people to surrender the product of their labor so that you can put people in power to tell them what to do.

[@adamJKpunk]

Meton2526 Except, me personally, I don't like the overbearing taxes either, but I do enjoy things such as roads and stuff...

[@Meton2526]

Governments do not build roads, governments pay individuals to build roads. If you like roads, get together with other people who all voluntarily want to fund a road, and hire a construction crew to build that road. Holding a gun to people's head saying "Give us money to build that road or you will be thrown into prison or shot if you resist" is more than just a little tyrannical, but if you call it "taxation", you can fool a lot of people into accepting their slavery.

[@charlottewalnut3118]

It Came from the Sky I say make some live on government assistance make it so being a politician is a miserable horrible job that no one wants then the world will have to self regulate because no one will ever want to be a politician and makes a punishment for breaking the laws any law if you’re a politician having your nuts slowly sliced open and then force-fed to you

[@icy_bit7306]

It’s free education and your complaining????

[@coolhand1078]

When there is someone else's money to be spent,those with the least abilities have more money spent on them.

[@MyCatFooed]

Reason ought to spend some time and energy on something, *anything* other than some other topic highlighting the divisiveness and inequities in our society. It'd be refreshing.

[@blakejameson1114]

Maybe that womans boys having ADHD, dislexia,......had something to do with his parents seperating/getting divorced?

[@blakejameson1114]

Dr. Smith both of the "families" cited in this video were broken homes.

[@blakejameson1114]

Dr. Smith children are not like this unless their environment has been disturbed.

[@blakejameson1114]

Environmental stressors affect brain chemistry constantly.

[@Meton2526]

Maybe the parents inability to maintain their family was because of their dysfunctional genetics. Heritability is a hell of a thing.

[@KevinSmith-qi5yn]

The last girl was born into a loving family that performed a miracle only possible in the US.

[@TKUA11]

I thought libertarians were for a small government , why not let the people use the free market to find a good education

[@michaelmccreary667]

Haha in scrabble one person can almost spell benghazi. That is definitely planned and I love it

[@KevinSmith-qi5yn]

That's cheating. You cannot use names in scrabble. Although it would be a nice 23 points.

[@greenbird777]

Michael McCreary: I love it that you noticed that :) It's nice to know our education system didn't destroy your ability to notice details and think about them. Seems like even young people can see that school is a joke and I friggin' LOVE it that you all seem to mostly ignore what school teaches you and you find ways to learn what YOU want to learn. We're all born with a powerful desire to learn - teaching/learning is easy once you realize this...

[@СофияСойко]

سلام في كل علم في كل عام我说已鈤peacepaicмирpaz

[@your_being_led_by_your_nose]

NY is progressive. Don’t like it, I guess move.

[@bradleytaylor5493]

Okay first of all, kids just should not grow up in New York City. Second, you don’t think that divorce had an impact on those kids having anxiety?

[@kinglu6360]

Genetic tests should be mandatory for poor people living off the state.

[@SeraphX2]

Steven Jones lol. I wasn't thinking about a test but was definitely wondering who is giving her babies.

[@themanhimself1229]

what would that prove?

[@kinglu6360]

Mr. Tophat you know what i want.

[@themanhimself1229]

what would that prove though?

[@kinglu6360]

Mr. Tophat Remove the problem.