LSC member Patricia Capano was scouring the transportation budget looking for ways to save money in the future. Her initial attention focused primarily on her perceive extravagances in the special education part of the costs. It was not just the substance but the tone of her rhetoric that I found insensitive and distasteful. That's just me and I don't proclaim to speak for anyone else.
She had the audacity to wonder if the teachers and special ed. administrators just toss out "free transportation" as an incentive to get parents to sign the IEP. Did she forget who we are talking about? Clearly there are a few students who are unable to safely walk to school whether it be from physical or cognitive reasons. You would think that someone who has been an esteemed member of the LSC would be informed about the dangers involved with denying the most needy.
A phone call to Dave Egan over at transportation would have saved her this embarrassing public display. According to his testimony before the Finance Subcommittee, last year there were 2300 SPED students last year and only 754 of them get free transportation. I don't speak French but I would hardly call that carte blanche.
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