Reply To: Should Special Ed kids be fed non-kosher food.

I was referring to someone who has down syndrome and is low functioning or who at best will have the intelligence of an eight or nine year old. This question came up in regards to special education programs run by the public school.

Federal Law allows taxpayer funded special education in private schools. Yeshivas have gotten into special ed and charge around $70,000 per student per year. The same services in a public school would cost $40,000, the net cost would be $10,000, because the district receives $30,000 per public school student. The district would save $60,000 per student if they could do Jewish special ed in house.

In order to qualify for private placement the child must first have an assessment by the public school who almost always refer the child to a public school program. The parent can appeal to an Administrative Law Judge for a hearing or a mediator for mediation. The Judge or the mediator makes the decision whether the child goes to public or private school.

In hundreds of cases in both Lakewood & Monsey the parents won and the children are in yeshivas. This is costing these school district millions of dollars each year and the district has to cut back in other areas because of it. I think the reason the judge/mediator sides with the parents is because the parents claims the child only understands Yiddish and can only eat kosher. Since yeshivas can provide this service while the public school can’t the judge/mediator rules in favor of the yeshivas.

While I agree the public schools do not have to provide kosher food and if the child ate non-kosher food it would not be a sin. I like most of these parents feels that it is only to be used as a last resort.