Smarty, you’re confusing accommodations and modifications – but whatever… so it costs more to educate a child with special needs – using that argument, should the family with six kids in public school pay more? Taxes are not paid to get back exactly what you put in – they’re for the common good. It’s beneficial to society for everyone to be educated to the best of their abilities, so they can be tax-paying citizens rather than a tax drain. Money spent on special education is one of the best investments we can make, not only from a moral point of view but from a financial point of view.
There’s nothing wrong with life-skills curriculum when it’s appropriate, but not because we can’t bother to fully educate everyone.
As far as the “everyone else” you talk about – 1/6 of our children are in special education – that would be a huge portion to leave behind.
