美国国家公共电台 NPR For Families With Special Needs, Vouchers Bring Choices, Not Guarantees

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

All week on the program, we're taking a look at school choice. Today we're going to meet two special needs families in Florida. President Trump¹ and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos have repeatedly touted² the state as a national model for the expansion of school choice. Anya Kamenetz of the NPR Ed team reports.

AYDEN: I do like to go down the slide.

ANYA KAMENETZ, BYLINE³: An hour north of West Palm Beach in St. Lucie County, we meet 9-year-old Ayden in a local park. He loves karate⁴, chapter books, video games...

(SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO GAME, "YO-KAI WATCH WIBBLE WOBBLE")

UNIDENTIFIED VOICE ACTOR: (As character) "Yo-Kai Watch: Wibble Wobble."

KAMENETZ: ...And really soft blankets.

AYDEN: Yeah, I love the fuzziness. I will just cocoon⁵ myself into my own burrito.

KAMENETZ: But when Ayden talks about his experience at public school, he develops a nervous tic.

AYDEN: I was at school, but, you know - (vocal tic) they're just keeping me at home for now (vocal tic). Yeah. But I'm going to go back to school eventually.

KAMENETZ: Ayden has autism and ADHD. We're not using his last name to protect his privacy. His mother, Lynn, says that at his public school, he had frequent meltdowns.

LYNN: It was hard. And - I mean, my stress was through the roof because it's like, what's going to happen today?

KAMENETZ: One day last fall, she says, he came home with bruises⁶ from being physically⁷ held down during an outburst.

LYNN: I was horrified⁸. He was covered in bruises. He had finger grip bruises on both shoulders. He had bruising⁹ and scrapes on the back of his head, and he had bruises up and down his spine¹⁰.

KAMENETZ: She says Ayden has suffered post-traumatic stress along with his injuries. St. Lucie Public Schools would not comment, citing privacy. Lynn pulled out of public school and started searching for a private school instead. Helping¹¹ kids like Ayden find a better fit is exactly why vouchers¹² for special needs students were created. Ayden is eligible¹³ for the McKay, which provides about $11,000 to attend a private school. McKay is the biggest and one of the oldest such programs in the country.

LYNN: Everybody's talking about how great vouchers are, how great vouchers are. And yes, they are a wonderful idea.

KAMENETZ: But here's the catch. For the past eight months, Lynn has not been able to find a school within driving distance that will accept Ayden. Several nearby schools advertise that they take students with autism.

LYNN: But the minute you call them, they're like - oh, well, we don't really have the staff to handle your child.

KAMENETZ: Here's the problem. Public schools are required by federal law to take every student no matter what. Private schools don't have to.

SHAWN ULLMAN: A lot of parents don't necessarily understand that they're giving up their rights.

KAMENETZ: Shawn Ullman is with The Arc, a national organization for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She says families have fewer legal protections outside the public schools, starting with the basic right to an education. Plus, given the services some of these kids need, often the voucher's not enough.

REED: (Playing keyboard).

KAMENETZ: While Lynn is still searching for a fourth-grade spot for Ayden, an hour southeast in Jupiter, on the beach, we meet Reed. He's a shy, 13-year-old "Star Wars" fan who plays Linkin Park covers in a local boy.

REED: (Singing, playing Linkin Park's "Numb") Tired of being what you want me to be, feeling...

KAMENETZ: It was back in preschool at a tiny Christian¹⁴ school that Reed was diagnosed with autism. His mother, Lauren, says, at first the school, Good Shepherd Episcopal, didn't think they could handle him. But eventually...

LAUREN: Reed ended up being one of their star students, I think, and one of the favorite students of the school.

KAMENETZ: The family brought in a therapist for Reed at their own expense and had her train the teachers in following Reed's behavioral plan.

REED: It was the glory days.

KAMENETZ: But the school ended after fifth grade, and the family was rejected by several other private schools. Where did they land? At the only school in the area that was required by law to take him.

LISA HASTEY: We're a regular old comprehensive public school.

KAMENETZ: That's Lisa Hastey, principal of the Jupiter Middle School of Technology, where Reed is now making A's and B's in mainstream¹⁵ classes as a seventh grader. The school has an autism specialist on staff.

FLORIDA ALL-STATE CHORUS: (Singing) Do, re, mi, fa, so, la, ti...

KAMENETZ: Reed is taking keyboard and is an all-state chorus. He says that between piano and singing, he prefers singing.

REED: It's my portable instrument.

KAMENETZ: And even more important, he's making friends. One of his buddies¹⁶ from chorus, Caleb, says he's always making everybody laugh.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SEIZE THE DAY")

FLORIDA ALL-STATE CHORUS: (Singing) Open the gates and seize the day.

KAMENETZ: Anya Kamenetz, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "SEIZE THE DAY")

FLORIDA ALL-STATE CHORUS: (Singing) Don't be afraid, and don't relent. Nothing can break us. No one can make us give our rights away. Oh, rise and seize the day.

[POST BROADCAST CORRECTION: In the audio of this story, as in a previous Web version, we incorrectly attribute a quotation¹⁷ to the wrong staff member of The Arc. The speaker was Annie Acosta, the director of fiscal¹⁸ and family support policy, not Shawn Ullman.]

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 touted   

v.兜售( tout的过去式和过去分词 )；招揽；侦查；探听赛马情报

参考例句：

• She's being touted as the next leader of the party. 她被吹捧为该党的下一任领导人。
• People said that he touted for his mother and sister. 据说，他给母亲和姐姐拉生意。 来自辞典例句

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 karate   

n.空手道(日本的一种徒手武术)

参考例句：

• Alice's boyfriend knew a little karate.艾丽斯的男朋友懂一点儿空手道。
• The black belt is the highest level in karate.黑腰带级是空手道的最高级别。

5 cocoon   

n.茧

参考例句：

• A cocoon is a kind of silk covering made by an insect.蚕茧是由昆虫制造的一种由丝组成的外包层。
• The beautiful butterfly emerged from the cocoon.美丽的蝴蝶自茧中出现。

6 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

8 horrified   

a.(表现出)恐惧的

参考例句：

• The whole country was horrified by the killings. 全国都对这些凶杀案感到大为震惊。
• We were horrified at the conditions prevailing in local prisons. 地方监狱的普遍状况让我们震惊。

9 bruising   

adj.殊死的；十分激烈的v.擦伤(bruise的现在分词形式)

参考例句：

• He suffered cracked ribs and bruising. 他断了肋骨还有挫伤。
• He slipped and fell, badly bruising an elbow. 他滑倒了，一只胳膊肘严重擦伤。 来自辞典例句

10 spine   

n.脊柱，脊椎；(动植物的)刺；书脊

参考例句：

• He broke his spine in a fall from a horse.他从马上跌下摔断了脊梁骨。
• His spine developed a slight curve.他的脊柱有点弯曲。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

12 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

13 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

14 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

15 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

16 buddies   

n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人

参考例句：

• We became great buddies. 我们成了非常好的朋友。 来自辞典例句
• The two of them have become great buddies. 他们俩成了要好的朋友。 来自辞典例句

17 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。

18 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。