Why Wouldn't Mitt Talk to the Kids?

Over at The Stranger Slog, they had a headline, "Mitt Romney Hates Children."  Please, I know he loves children but the issue is, why not go to the Nickelodeon tv special on the election?   Here's what Obama's campaign said:
In a release, the network says Mitt Romney declined to participate after numerous attempts. The program will include file sound bites of Romney addressing the subjects.
The president's re-election campaign wasted no time in hitting its opponent over not participating. "It's no surprise Romney decided to play hooky. Kids demand details, and I'm sure they want some answers on why Romney could increase their class sizes, eliminate their teacher's jobs, raise taxes on their families and slash funding for Big Bird. Unfortunately for Mitt Romney, 'The dog ate my homework' just doesn't cut it when you're running for President," Obama campaign deputy press secretary Adam Fetcher said in a statement.
Is Romney really that afraid of unscripted replies?  I mean, he already went after Big Bird and now he can't talk to a few kid reporters?

(Also, to note - neither of them mentioned charter schools the other night during the debate.)

Comments

Unknown said…
Melissa, What Mitt did mention, though, was allowing special ed students to take their federal funding with them to private schools.
10/8/12, 5:17 PM
dan dempsey said…
Hummm... on class size. When the legislature decided to adopt the Common Core State standards .... Mr Dorn's report detailed that most of the cost of CCSS would be coming directly out of district funds.. (another unfunded mandate from Olympia courtesy of Obama/Duncan)

The CCSS details are as approved in WA => the cost of CCSS comes out to be the equivalent of 300+ teachers per year for five years.

Obama/Duncan should not talk about class size .... as they have no high ground to stand on.
10/8/12, 5:45 PM
Unknown said…
Mary that is the newest item in conservative education. This idea that you start with Special Ed kids and then, vouchers for all. Question is, are there that many private schools that would serve Special Ed students, that have the programs? I don't think so. But this is the next big thing.
10/8/12, 5:49 PM
Dorothy Neville said…
What? Kids in private schools do have access to special ed support. At least somewhat, I don't know the details or the depth of the issue, but it is not cut and dried like this. There are pass through programs that show up in the district budgets.
10/8/12, 5:59 PM
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
10/8/12, 6:53 PM
Unknown said…
@Dorothy, yes, kids in private schools do have access to special ed support. But it's very confusing. I chose to pull my son out of special education at Seattle Public Schools two years ago and self-pay for him to attend private school. He receives speech language services at Mercer Middle School through SPS. It took me 7 months of wrangling to get that. I drive him there to receive services during the school day.

Other kids with special needs are educated at my child's private school at public expense. This means the district pays their tuition as well as associated services and transportation. This can run upwards of $100,000 per child per year if the child has a private aide. Anyway, federal funds for special ed students are nowhere near enough money to pay any kind of private school tuition for special education, and that is where state funding enters the equation. Several state legislatures have introduced legislation (usually straight out of the ALEC cauldron) which would provide state funding through a voucher system for special education students in private schools. For an example, here is the "Autism Scholarship" legislation: http://alecexposed.org/w/images/7/79/2D8-THE_AUTISM_SCHOLARSHIP_PROGRAM_ACT_Exposed.pdf

The biggest issue with private schools are that they are not required to provide services mandated by IDEA. Lacking any proper accountability and oversight, these programs strip legal protections for parents and their children. In addition, because voucher programs do not cover the full cost of educating a child with disability, good (expensive) programs end up only serving the children of the wealthy, who can afford to pay the difference. Here is a position paper by the National Council on Disabilities on School Vouchers: http://www.ncd.gov/publications/2003/April152003
10/8/12, 7:01 PM
Dorothy Neville said…
Mary, thanks for the detailed explanation. Does sound like ALEC, doesn't it.
10/8/12, 7:14 PM
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