LOST
BOY
Greg and Maya have come to the
conclusion that the District of
Columbia Public Schools system
doesn’t have the capacity to educate their son. Federal law states
that public school systems must
foot the bill for private schooling
for students like Max if the public
schools can’t give him a “free and
appropriate public education.”
How you define “appropriate,”
though, is where it gets blurry.
HUFFINGTON
01.12.14
In November 2012, Max’s family filed for private school funding. In January, a DCPS hearing
officer denied their claim on the
grounds that Max’s lack of progress is not legal reason enough to
grant him free tuition.
Washington, D.C., like other
school districts throughout the
country, is currently trying to reduce the number of special education students on the rolls of costly
private schools. D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray has called for reducing
his city’s private placements by
Max’s parents
took him to
the hospital
to determine
whether he
had epilepsy
on July 24,
2013. About
one third of
those with
autism also
suffer from
epilepsy at
some point
in their lives.
While he did
display some
abnormal
brain activity,
Max is not
epileptic.