SpecialEdPost ? The Risk of Privatizing Special Education Services

IncludEd Educational management stands accused of bilking taxpayers out of millions of dollars.

The New York State Comptroller recently found overbilling at a Long Island company called IncludEd Educational, which is accused of having misused millions of dollars in public money while employing nearly a dozen family members.

We need to think about the risks of privatizing special education. David Halbfinger reported in The Times earlier this year that New York is the only state that turns over preschool special education to private contractors, many of which are for-profit companies.

In most of the country, The Times reports, these services are provided through the public school districts. State officials in New York place the annual average cost at about $17,000 per preschooler. The Times reported earlier this year that the average cost for children in Massachusetts, which is said to have a generous program, was less than $10,000 per child.

New York?s program also allows companies to both identify children?s disabilities and then provide the services. That sets up an inherent conflict of interest, making it easy to overbill simply by claiming more and costlier services than the children actually need.

The politically powerful special education lobby has been able to stonewall reform. But given the abuse found in audits recently, it?s clear the preschool program is long overdue for an overhaul.

[From the New York Times]

Read more at?Fraud in Preschool Special Education.

Tags: David Halbfinger, IncludEd Educational, overbilling, preschool special education, preschool special education fraud, special education fraud, special education lobby, the New York Times

Source: http://specialedpost.com/2012/08/09/the-risk-of-privatizing-special-education-services/

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