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.
asserted
Lawmakers → create → students
- Closed Doors: Unlike public schools, private ones generally aren’t required to educate students with disabilities.
asserted
ones → close → disabilities
They often don’t.
asserted
They → do → ?
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.
asserted
they → find → disabilities
These highlights were written by the reporters and editors who worked on this story.
asserted
who → write → story
It’s after 6 p.m. by the time Angela Johnson hurries home from work.
asserted
Johnson → ’ → work
Her 12-year-old daughter, Amelia, is at their house outside of Pensacola, Florida, with a nurse trained to care for medically fragile children.
asserted
daughter → train → children
Amelia, who was born with a rare genetic anomaly, has endured many surgeries and requires a brain shunt and a feeding tube.
asserted
who → bear → shunt
The nurse starts caring for Amelia as soon as a bus from the public school drops her off.
asserted
bus → start → her
Johnson loves much about the school.
asserted
Johnson → love → school
But as a physical therapist, she also recognizes its limitations.
asserted
she → recognize → limitations
The district’s physical and occupational therapists have to travel from school to school.
asserted
therapists → have → school
The classroom teacher can become overburdened.
asserted
teacher → become → ?
For all of Amelia’s life, Johnson has had to fight for the education and the school resources her daughter is entitled to receive under federal law.
asserted
daughter → have → law
It has exhausted her.
asserted
It → exhaust → her
Two years ago, she thought she’d found a better option for Amelia when she learned Florida has a state-funded voucher program for children with disabilities.
asserted
Florida → think → disabilities
She jumped at the promise of “school choice.”
asserted
She → jump → choice
The program, the largest of its kind in the country, channels taxpayer dollars into accounts that parents can use to pay for private school tuition and other education expenses.
asserted
parents → channel → tuition
Johnson envisioned a private school with smaller classes and more one-on-one time with trained staff, a place where she didn’t have to battle for every minute of therapy her child required.
asserted
child → envision → therapy
She imagined Amelia learning to cut a straight line and to write her name.
asserted
Amelia → imagine → name
In 2024, Amelia was awarded about $10,500 from the program.
asserted
Amelia → award → program
Thrilled, Johnson embarked on a weekslong hunt for a private school.
asserted
Johnson → embark → school
She began scouring school websites, most of which said nothing about services for children with disabilities.
asserted
most → begin → disabilities
She started calling schools, first an upscale Christian one nearby with a strong reputation.
asserted
She → start → reputation
It had no nurse trained to care for medically fragile children, so she reached out to several other schools.
asserted
she → have → schools
At first, some said they could help — until Johnson explained that her daughter had a feeding tube, that she couldn’t yet hold a pencil correctly and needed assistance toileting.
uncertain
she → say → assistance
Then they all said no.
asserted
they → say → ?
Johnson couldn’t find a single one that provided nurses equipped to care for her daughter’s medical needs.
asserted
that → find → needs
Therein lies the catch in “school choice” for children like Amelia.
asserted
catch → lie → Amelia
Unlike public schools, private ones generally aren’t required to educate students with disabilities.
asserted
ones → require → disabilities
And they often don’t.
asserted
they → do → ?
The choice wasn’t hers, Johnson realized.
asserted
Johnson → realize → ?
The vouchers “are basically designed to make you go to private school,” Johnson said, “but my kid can’t access private school.”
asserted
kid → design → school
Johnson returned the money to the state, along with a very stern email.
asserted
Johnson → return → email
Voucher programs and the private schools they increasingly fund have proliferated across the country.
asserted
they → fund → country
Yet those schools often reject children with disabilities — the very kids who were used to help sell early voucher programs to lawmakers and the public — for having needs that are too costly, complex or disruptive.
asserted
that → reject → needs
That leaves those children with few options beyond the public schools.
asserted
That → leave → schools
And as public schools lose enrollment as a result of more and more voucher use, they lose resources that would benefit children who remain, including those with disabilities.
asserted
who → lose → disabilities
About 3 million school-age children with disabilities live in states with universal voucher eligibility.
asserted
children → live → eligibility
Florida, one of those states, illustrates how the promise of school choice can be empty for these children.
asserted
promise → illustrate → children
…and 128 more, not listed.
The Aporia
