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Few things flow north, but a virtual copy of Florida’s special needs scholarship program has seeped into northern neighbor Georgia’s state legislature this session and stands a good chance of passing the Senate this week.

The bill’s sponsor, Senate President Pro Tem Eric Johnson, spent time in Tallahassee earlier this month soaking up information on the successful McKay Scholarship Program – a program that gives parents of students with special needs the option of choosing a private school to educate and serve the needs of their child.  Georgians would do well to follow Sen. Johnson’s lead – the McKay Scholarship Program has stood the test of time proving that parental choice is a powerful remedy for failed or mediocre delivery of public school special education services.

In fact, the McKay program reports a high parent satisfaction rate.  Participation has risen steadily since the 1999 pilot program went statewide in 2000, and today McKay serves approximately 17,000 kids.  In addition to Florida, Arizona, Ohio and Utah boast programs that give private provider options to students with special needs.

Despite the success of similar programs, Georgia’s proposal is encountering opposition from some skeptics and public school establishment types.  But Georgians are quick to embrace a program that promises better service to a growing population of students.  According to a recent Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll, 61 percent of Georgians support scholarships for special needs students.  While many states tally a record number of students identified as special needs this year, only three states’ totals represent bigger increases than that of Georgia.  The Peach State’s 190,000 special needs kids reveal an 88 percent increase over 1990 figures.  Nationwide, this figure is only 39 percent.

Some of Georgia’s special needs students already attend private schools on the public dime, a result of parent-driven litigation and embittered battle with the school system.  Why not streamline this process with a program that gives parents the choice upfront?  Opponents’ concerns that private schools will skirt accountability undermine the prerogative of parents to advocate for their children.  This is easily lost on those who function in a system that does not often account for parent views or preferences.  Georgia’s proposal corrects this mistake, capitalizing on the power of parents as consumers.

If Georgia’s Special Needs Scholarship Act continues on its promising path through the General Assembly, perhaps it will even trickle up to other states flooding parents of special needs kids with more choices and opportunity.

Matt Warner is Education Task Force Director for the American Legislative Exchange Council, the nation’s largest nonpartisan membership organization of state legislators.  Past task force activities include the approval of model legislation entitled Special Needs Scholarship Program Act. He may be reached at mwarner at alec dot org.