Should Special Ed kids be fed non-kosher food.

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  • #616149
    Abba_S
    Participant

    In a discussion concerning Special ed in yeshiva there were those who said that these children should be taught in public school. I said that they needed to be in yeshiva because need to have kosher food and there response was they don’t have to because they are pure and not obligated to do Mitvos and can’t be punish it makes no difference. This was in the coffee room in yeshiva world.

    #1094698
    ☕ DaasYochid ☕
    Participant

    I don’t think anyone said anything like that.

    #1094699
    old man
    Participant

    This issue was analyzed by the Chasam Sofer in his tshuva, OH:83. I thought every yeshiva bochur knew that.

    #1094700
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    People were not debating if Special Ed kids should be eating non-kosher food, but rather if the secular NY or NJ government should be paying for it

    #1094701
    akuperma
    Participant

    By “special ed” do you mean children with conditions such as ADA and Down’s Syndrome or deafness or reading difficulties – or do you mean children who will never attain the intellectual abilities of a toddler. No one would argue that an educatable child in “special ed” is anyting but a normal child under halacha – our law is very broad and who is considered “normal” — under halacha one has to be very subnormal to be exempt from mitsvos in any way (and arguably any child so considered probably would not be included in “special education”). While calling someone a “shoteh” (fool) is a common insult, by halacha a “shoteh” is very serverely developmentally disabiled to the point of being largely uneducatable.

    I suspect the original question may have been someone using “special education kids”, politely, to refer to someone incapble of every being able to function at more than the level of an infant — since anyone asking whether the normal sort of kids in special ed. (reading and behavior difficulties,mild develomental disabilities, etc.) would exempt them from mitsvos is obviously a “shoteh” (in the “insult” meaning of the work, not the halachic meaning).

    #1094702
    Abba_S
    Participant

    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.

    #1094703
    pcoz
    Member

    That is a sad question in today’s ‘affluent’ society.

    #1094704
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    FYI

    Most of the time the Arbitor does NOT side with the parents. Most school districts fight the parents and your only shot is if you higher a lawyer . And if you win you dont get the full amount, they usually deduct for Hebrew or Yiddish instruction.

    In the case of East Ramapo, the school districts did not fight as hard as they do in the city. They fight hard in the city not to pay

    #1094705
    writersoul
    Participant

    Hmmm, that’s a very difficult and thought-provoking question. I’ll get back to you on that- I’m really not sure.

    /endsarcasm

    For what it’s worth, I always brought my own school lunch.

    #1094706
    Abba_S
    Participant

    The Individuals with Disability Education Act ensures students with a disability are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) that is tailored to their individual needs. It gives the parent the right to appeal to an administrative law judge or a mediator (Arbitrator). The administrative law judge holds a hearing very similar to a court case with legal procedures and can be appealed to a higher court. Mediation is the two parties agree to follow whatever the mediator decides. The reason mediator are used is it faster than a hearing and it clears up the backlog. A hearing can take two days or more. Mediation can be finished in half a day.

    Mediators are usually outside contractors while judges are civil servants. The parent is the one who decides whether to choose mediation or a hearing. If the mediator in the majority of case rules against the parent by the third case, the parents talk to each other and they would already known that they are not going to win with the mediator and will switch to a hearing.If that happens the mediator is out of a job and the district is going to have to start hiring more administrative judges. In order to encourage the parents to use mediators the mediator must side with the parent at least 2 out of 3 times otherwise they will take their chance with the judge.

    I am not sure what is meant by “you don’t get the full amount, they usually deduct for Hebrew or Yiddish”

    First of all IDEA clearly states that if the parent wins at the hearing the Board of Education must pay the parent’s legal fees.

    IDEA clearly states that the FREE EDUCATION must be tailored to the child’s special needs. This means that if the child needs Yiddish the Free Education is in Yiddish and if the child needs Hebrew the Free Education is in Hebrew. I guess your school district does not have any bilingual education you know that when they have teacher speaking Spanish to the students for all the subjects.

    “In the case of East Ramapo, the school districts did not fight as hard as they do in the city”

    The district is represented by private attorneys and they have a responsibility to protect the district’s interest. If they were lax in protecting the district’s interest you should submit your proof to the bar. Otherwise you are slandering them and they can sue you for libel.

    As far as NYC fighting hard not to pay. Just a year ago a man named Eric Garner resisted arrest was put in handcuffs and died. Even though he was illegally selling cigarettes and resisting arrest the city paid his family $5 million without even a trial.

    #1094707
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    The answer to the question in the title is yes unless they are Jewish.

    #1094708
    Mammele
    Participant

    As a side note, the frum population in Monsey/Spring Valley has a lower percentage of special Ed kids than the general population does, I don’t recall the numbers off-hand.

    My point is that all factors effecting the cost of special Ed should be considered, whether positively or negatively before throwing around numbers to the tune of “millions of dollars”. We are not such suckers…

    Additionally, I don’t think the quality of the education for in house public school children with Down’s Syndrome is comparable to KJ UFSD, so we’re not exactly comparing apples to apples. KJ specializes while public schools are kind of the jack of all trades.

    #1094709
    zahavasdad
    Participant

    It doesnt take a day to settle with the Arbitor, it takes alot longer .

    Bloomberg (and DiBlasio) have a policy of fighting every case of parents wanting the board of Ed for special ed in private school. So you dont win alot and many times they will settle so you get a portion instead of the whole amount.

    Instead of posting things on the internet , why not ask people who actually work in the business (Like a Lawyer) and find out how hard the city is fighting Special ed tution fees. (Manhattan is the worse, the city hires really high priced attoryneys for that job)

    #1094710
    Mammele
    Participant

    The sad thing is all this litigation against parents is continuing despite some much lauded deal being reached with the city last year not to fight back as much.

    http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/242803/mayor-de-blasio-provides-details-of-new-nyc-special-education-policy.html

    We wimped out and instead of getting the law changed, agreed to trust the board of Ed on the Mayor’s say so.

    #1094711
    benignuman
    Participant

    Abba_S,

    There is a case against East Ramapo right now on just that issue. But the reality is that East Ramapo wasn’t fighting the parents as hard because they calculated that it was cheaper for them to just give in (i.e. court costs plust public school were more than paying for KJ).

    L’maysah East Ramapo has created a high quality special needs program within one of its public schools that has yiddish-speaking (i.e. frum) teachers.

    #1094712
    Abba_S
    Participant

    benignuman

    The reasons East Ramapo doesn’t fight special ed parents are because:

    A) At least one of the 7 Jewish board members has a special ed child and so they know how it feels.

    B) As you say it’s cheaper not to fight the parents every year, because the burden of proof is on the board to show that the public school’s program is in the best interest of the child. If they lose not only do they have to pay their own lawyer as he is not on staff but also the parents’ lawyer too. Plus they pay for the judge and all his support staff.

    As far as the E. Ramapo quality special ed program the parents like it and it saves the district $60,000.00 or more per student.

    ( Private placement cost $70,000., public school placement cost $40,000 plus the $30,000 the state gives the district for each student enrolled in public school. If a State monitor is appointed this program will probably go and these students will probably go to KJ at a cost of $75,000. per kid.

    Mammele

    There are over 5,000 special ed appeals per year in NYC the vast majority are not Jews wanting private placement. They hired staff to fight these cases so they don’t have to hire outside law firms to represent them so for NYC the cost per case is less. They have a large bilingual education system so they probably have Yiddish speaking teachers. They have kosher food which they serve in city hospitals to kosher patients which could be served to these kids too at a minimal cost. The city saves $60,000 per student so why not fight to keep the child in public school.

    To All

    This year the law giving the NYC mayor total power over the Board of Education expires. If you want changes to the state law regarding special ed now is the time to speak to your NY State Assembly person or NY State Senator so that it can be attached to the bill granting the authority.

    This thread is supposed to be about whether Jewish Special Ed Kids can be fed non-kosher food.

    By the way, according to the Asbury Park Press an agreement has been made between the yeshivas and State Monitor of the Board of Ed in Lakewood granting free school busing for all students so Courtesy Busing is back in Lakewood.

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