A New School for the Service Dog
The latest development in the service dog story is that the district will pay half the tuition for the boy to attend a private school with his dog. It will not, however, provide transportation for the dog. (Is the dog supposed to run alongside the bus?) The parents have agreed to drive both the boy and his dog themselves.
As often happens when I read about this case, I find myself thinking how much better the situation would be under a tuition tax credit policy. Tuition tax credits would give all children this opportunity — not just children whose parents who have the means to fight their school district in the courts. And this boy could have started school on time, without the stress of a legal dispute. Taxpayers would be better off too. If tax dollars are going to pay tuition for students with autism in the end anyway, why not offer the option up front, before getting drawn into a costly lawsuit?
