The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • Page A6

A6 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2012 THE ENQUIRER Replacement Windows Any Size Installed (0-101 u.i) $189 BBS www.windowsfor189.com 513-777-2489 ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP The Jon Peterson Scholarship provides money to students with disabilities to attend the schools of their choice, public or private. Public school leaders say that instead of funding educational choices for special needs students, most scholarships awarded so far have gone to students who never attended public schools. Districts lose money when the state deducts the cost of the scholarship from its state aid, leaders say. Advocates say it gives more options to special needs students. TO RECEIVE A SCHOLARSHIP 1.

Student must have an identified disability 2. The public school district where he or she resides must develop an "individual education plan," called an IEP, which describes the disability and the goals of the student and what educational and other services are needed for the student. 3. Parents pick providers, usually private schools or entities, which then fill out and send in the scholarship application. There are two application periods, one ending in April and one in mid-November, to allow parents two times to choose a school per year.

4. Parents may contract with one educational provider or multiple providers. They also can be charged more than the amount of the scholarship. 5. Private providers are required to implement at least one of the services called for in the IEP.

They can refuse to educate a scholarship recipient if their parents demand a program or service that is inconsistent with what the school offers. 6. Private providers also can get money from other sources, such as auxiliary service money from the state. The future of HEART DISEASE RESEARCH depends on you. the student were attending their home school district." Northwest Schools, for instance, had $675,000 in scholarship money deducted from its state aid for a total of 83 students -none of whom had attended a Northwest school.

State officials acknowledge that the scholarship has cost districts more than many had anticipated, but state reimbursements are coming in December, which should reduce some of that burden, said John Charlton, spokesman for the Ohio education department. He didn't have specific figures or projections, saying the reimbursements depend on a variety of factors, including a district's property wealth. Lou Blessing, Republican speaker pro tern of the Ohio House, said legislators did not intend for districts to be harmed by this program. He said he was surprised that few of the voucher recipients are students who switched from public schools. He said he's confident the legislature will come up with a way to fix these financial problems next year.

But Keough said the legislature should wait and give the program time. The financial impact on districts shouldn't be the main determinant for changing the Peterson program, he said. "We need to look at this thing from the perspective of what is in the best interest of children," he said. If you have stable coronary artery disease, you may be eligible to participate in a clinical research study IEP for that student and his or her special needs. Ray Lyttle, Ross schools' director of personnelstudent services, said that costs money.

"The public schools do all the evaluations, write and monitor the IEPs. The public school gets no funding for this," he said. "The amount received by the provider school for a specific disability area is higher than what the public school would receive if Only a few years left on your mortgage? 9338 Cincinnati Columbus Rd. West Chester, OH 1-866-650-2489 If eligible, all study-related visits, tests, and treatments will be provided to participants at no cost. In addition, compensation for time and travel may also be provided.

For more information, please contact: A Clinical Pharmacology 513-366-3222 www.medpace.com as today. BEN GEROME STEFANSKI FOUNDERS Disabled Continued from Page A1 district to educate a special needs student, and instead give it to a private school when the student is transferred. Proponents say the parents of those students require more educational choices, regardless of whether their kids attend public or private school. "No one school meets the needs of every student, particularly children with disabilities," said Larry Keough, associate director for education with the Catholic Conference of Ohio and parent of two children with disabilities. The program, which started this school year, also balances out the educational costs parents of special needs children have to pay, he said.

"Let's remember that the parents who send their children to nonpublic schools pay local, state and federal taxes and pay tuition at a nonpublic school. There ought to be a sense of social justice and some benefit for them." But district leaders say they are not losing students to the scholarship. Just money. The program has gone farther than they expected because most of the money is not funding students who switched from public to private schools. Instead, the majority of the money is paying for students who already attend private schools and plan to stay put.

"Bottom line for us: The more the state is able to 'find' new revenue for private schools, the less they seem to have to allocate to public schools," said Tracey Carson, Mason Schools spokeswoman. Mason has lost more than $60,000 so far to the program, she said. Meanwhile, Ohio has cut what its sends her district for overall school operations by about $8 million compared to five years ago. "This just means that public schools are forced to go to their local voters more often and for larger amounts," she said. Thursday was the deadline for the scholarship's second round of applications.

In total, 538 Ohio students have applied for scholarships and are expected to begin using them in January. That's in addition to the 1,583 students receiving the scholarships for this school year after applying for them last winter and spring. To qualify, a student doesn't need to attend a public school, and their parents don't have to show financial need. The Peterson scholarship works like a voucher, funding private education for any student with a disability. The money for each scholarship is deducted from the total education funding the state sends to each district.

(State aid to schools varies based on a variety of factors, including each district's ability to charge local residents property taxes.) Dozens of parents testified in Columbus in recent years about the need for such a program, beyond Ohio's existing autism scholarship that pays a total of $20,000 each year. Legislators created the Peterson scholarship to give parents recourse if their public school is not doing enough for their special needs children. But districts throughout Greater Cincinnati say their existing student populations are losing because they have less to spend to educate them. Milford, for instance, will spend nearly $100,000 on 14 scholarship recipients only one of whom ever attended a Milford school. Cincinnati Public had 199 scholarship applicants and will spend about $1.2 million educating them in private settings, even though only 15 ever attended a CPS school, and Winton Woods expects to lose at least $202,000 for its 22 scholarship recipients, even though only one of them is switching from a Winton Woods school.

Parents apply for the 2.592.74 scholarship through the private school they plan to use or, in most cases, where they are already sending their children. The public school district in which they live must write an "individual education plan" (an IEP) that lists what the student's educational and other needs are. The districts, however, say they have never evaluated many of these students and must create an To EQUAL HOUSING LENDER much You can participate if you: Are between 18 and 75 years of age Weigh at least 60 kg (132 lbs) Are receiving low-dose aspirin for at least seven days prior to beginning the study Have a medical diagnosis of stable coronary artery disease CE4)0005341S1 APR" Hills (513) 598-7300 1.992.89- 10-YEAR TERM 0 POINTS AFTER 3 YEARS, RATE IS PRIME Still makes sense to refinance with our new 10-year mortgages. Because our rates are so low, you can shorten your mortgage by as two years, all for about the same monthly payment you have You can even pick a term as short as six years. Today only! 10-YEAR TERM 0 POINTS 612 3100 Western Bank Smart.

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