Parents, not government, should decide what is the best educational setting for their deaf children. An increasing number of states agree with this premise and have passed laws to empower parents of disabled students, including those with hearing impairments, to make their own choice.

In June, North Carolina passed the Tax Credits for Children With Disabilities law, which gives parents of students with special needs a tax credit for expenses related to private-school tuition and other educational services. Parents of deaf children were among the prominent supporters of the new law. Wendy Katsiagianis, who has a 13-year-old son who is deaf and has attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder and Tourette syndrome, said that a private school would better address her son’s educational and health needs and that the tax credit legislation would give her the means to make this choice. Her well-publicized plea, plus those of other parents, had an influential impact on the debate over the proposal.

Also in June, Ohio enacted the Jon Peterson Special Needs Scholarship Program that will provide a voucher scholarship to students with disabilities, including hearing impairment. The scholarship can be used to pay for the tuition at private schools and will be equal to 90 percent of the student’s special education funding, with a cap of $20,000. For a hearing-impaired student, the scholarship funding is $14,911.

Florida also has a special-needs voucher, which is available to deaf students. That program, the McKay Scholarship, has created a thriving private-school market for students with disabilities, including schools for deaf students. For example, the Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf in Clearwater was founded in 2003, three years after the voucher program was established statewide. The school says that the program allows parents of students with disabilities “to choose the best learning environment for their children.”

If all states gave parents these school-choice tools, the decision of public schools to eliminate separate programs for deaf students would be balanced out, significantly or in part, by the creation of such programs at private schools responding to parental demand.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/07/31/do-states-need-schools-for-the-deaf/give-parents-of-deaf-children-a-choice-in-education