History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
How the governor tried to eliminate mental health services for schoolchildren
- 11-30-2010
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Commentary by Bill Koski/Thoughts on Public education
Bill Koski is the Eric & Nancy Wright Professor of Clinical Education, Professor of Law, and Professor of Education (by courtesy) at Stanford University.
On Oct. 8 , the same day that the Legislature passed the state budget, Gov. Schwarzenneger unceremoniously line-item vetoed funding for AB 3632 services, stating that his “policy is to suspend mandates not related to elections, law enforcement, or property taxes in order to maintain a prudent reserve.” With that metaphorical pen stroke, the governor placed at even greater risk thousands of already vulnerable children and youth — those who need educationally-related mental health services, including day therapy, day treatment, and even residential care. President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg called the cuts to school-based mental health services “misguided, cruel, unnecessary and preventable.” The director of Special Education for the California Department of Education decried the “chaos” that resulted as county mental health agencies, which provide AB 3632 (a.k.a. Chapter 26.5) mental health services, began to inform school districts that those services would no longer be forthcoming. What’s interesting about this story is just how uninteresting the public and the media find a $132.9 million cut to an educational program so necessary to a relatively small group of children. (more…)
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