Public education not for all.

• Author: Augustyn, Debra
• Position: Letters to the Editor - Letter to the editor

While I disagree with the idea of using vouchers to send disabled kids to substandard, for-profit warehouses, I also disagree with the assumption that every disabled kid can and should be mainstreamed into the public school system ("The GOP Attack on Special Ed," by Ruth Conniff, September issue). I have seen the warehousing of severely disabled kids in the back row of public schools.

My sister is a teacher's aide for the disabled in a rural New Hampshire school district. She has had to take special courses in how to defend herself and not harm her charges without hurting any of them. She has been bit and hit and has had objects thrown at her. As she has told me on numerous occasions over the years, most of her kids need more specialized care than the school can provide.

I also saw this, as my grown children are a product of the Wisconsin public school system. At the time, our district was the poorest, lowest spending per pupil district in the state. For a couple of years, the disabled kids had to have class time in an expanded janitor's workroom. The severely...