According to this article from the Huffington Post, across the country, the high cost of educating students with special needs is disproportionately falling on traditional public schools. Why? Many charter and private schools aren’t always readily open to those requiring special education.

From the article: “The issue is particularly acute in districts where enrollment has declined due to demographic changes such as low birth rates and population shifts combined with an influx of charter schools and voucher programs that have siphoned off students.”

Many educators would say all schools that receive public funds should share the cost of special education. And some parents of special needs students, like Matthew Asner, executive director of Autism Speaks, whose 9-year-old son with autism attends a traditional Los Angeles Unified school, would like  their children to have the option to go to charter schools. Unfortunately, it’s a challenge to find one that accommodates autistic students and has openings.

What do you think? Do charter and private schools have the same responsibility to educate children with different needs as a public school does?