If your child has a disability where do you turn?

 If Your Child has a disability, where do you turn?

 

A school year is ending and the new one will begin very soon.  Hopefully the 21-22 school year will open and we will be on our way.  If you have a child with a disability the decision on what to do is much more consequential.  

There are two considerations.  One is the quality of the teachers and the other is the quality of programing.

Maryland ranks 4^th in the country in terms of funding for public schools and providing financial equity in support of minorities and lower socio-economic groups.  Maryland also pays its teachers very well.

The national realtor association ranks Baltimore, Maryland as #27 out of 150 cities as a top place to work if you have a special needs child.  But there are other questions about living in Baltimore and overall the Baltimore City school system is considered to be a very poor one.  The U.S. Office of Education monitors the 50 states as to their compliance with the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA).  According to the recent monitoring, Maryland is not in compliance with the Act.  However, Maryland is in good company given that less than half of the 50 states are in compliance.

The next question is the quality of the teachers.  If we can equate salary with quality- AND that is a very big IF- Maryland teachers should be very good.  Maryland ranks #4 in the country behind Alaska, Vermont and California in teacher pay.  And that is BEFORE the Kirwin money is kicking in.  The average special ed teachers’ salary in Maryland is just under $50,000 and 10% of Maryland teachers earn more than $90,000.  So, they are being well paid.  In fact, Maryland special ed teachers rank 9^th in the country in terms of salary.  You might be wondering why the discrepancy between all teachers being 4^th and special ed teachers being 9^th.  The reason is the very high turnover in special ed teachers.  Three out of five are gone in the first 5 years.  Consequently they are leaving before the higher salaries begin to kick in.

But someone in Maryland is doing something right.   Maryland is one of only eight states with 33% or more of its adults with disabilities competitively employed.  So maybe Maryland isn’t such a bad place to land if you have a child with a disability.