The latest article in ProPublica’s “Private Schools, Public Money” series offers an in-depth look at the distance between promises made about private schooling for disabled students and the disappointing, often impossible, realities. Writers Jennifer Berry Hawes and Jennifer Smith Richards report that 18 states now have voucher-style programs with universal eligibility or are phasing them in.

They review the politics, then talk to families in Florida and Georgia and share their stories.

Here’s a link to the full text of the article, with great photos. You can read it for free, or listen to the article at this link (21 min.).

Reporting Highlights

• Toehold Strategy: Lawmakers created voucher programs for children with disabilities as part of a strategy to pave the way for today’s much larger programs open to all students.
• Closed Doors: Unlike public schools, private ones generally aren’t required to educate students with disabilities. They often don’t.
• Few Choices: In Florida, home to the nation’s largest voucher programs, we found that more than half of private schools say they do not serve students with any type of disabilities.

These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.