One of my best friend had a child who was disabled, and my friend took it on her as a responsible person to tend to her child and started a charter caring school for those kinds of kids whomever she met after that.
Her act ran counter to the ideal of inclusive education. Nevertheless, this special charter school was positively accepted by other parents who shared a similar situation, some of whom moved from other states to have their children enroll there
These were the parents who could afford to change their place of residence in order to be near a better school. This is an example of one important determinant of choice in selecting schools, that is parents’ ability to navigate resources, access, and educational opportunities for their children. Parents traditionally enroll their children into schools assigned by the local school district.
However, school choice policy offers parents a degree of autonomy: they may select a school or an education program for their children beyond the boundaries of neighborhoods and districts (Center for Education Reform, 1993)
Parents also have the option to select charter schools, magnet schools, or private schools. Their choices have considerable impact on the social and academic outcomes of students with disabilities. This being the case, it is important to examine the factors that impact parents’ choice of schools.
Research studies have examined the school selection process and have determined that parental choice of school is strongly influenced by socioeconomic factors such as race and income and by the areas in which parents reside.
However, little is known about how parents of children with disabilities chose schools. There is a paucity of research available on the factors influencing the school selection of parents of children with disabilities.
This systematic literature review is timely. First, there has been increasing interests among parents of children with disabilities in exercising their right to choose a school. Considering only the case of charter schools, between 2003 and 2013, the number of public school students enrolled in charter schools increased from 1.6% to 5.1% (National Center for Education Statistics, 2016). In 2012, as many as 13.6 % of charter school students were students with disabilities compared to 12.9 % in assigned public schools.
Second, there are concerns regarding the accuracy of information available for parents’ school choice and the consequences of the choice. The lack of accurate information may negatively affect both parents and students with disabilities. Research shows that low-income and immigrant families often make choices based on the publicly promoted assumption that private or charter schools are naturally better than public schools.
Insufficient knowledge and the desire to provide what they believe to be a better education may lead parents to make decisions with severe consequences. For instance, parents who transfer their children with disabilities from public to private schools must pay extra costs that the state voucher they receive does not cover, and they lose partial or full civil rights protection under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act.
Finally, parents of children with and without disabilities have different considerations when selecting schools, yet research on school choice often overgeneralizes parental decision making, conflating the two group
Parents of children without disabilities often choose a school that is academically superior and matches their philosophy, one that is safe and close to home.
However, other factors may come under consideration
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