A New Bush On The Landscape

I'm getting cranky about the Bush education plan because I'm not hearing my name or my disease mentioned. In fact I'm not hearing anybody's disease mentioned. What I hear is that healthy dogs who are going to a school they don't like will have the option of going to a religious private school. Why only a religious private school? Because you can bet the fur on your back that snotty private schools are not going to take anybody's voucher without an accompanying check - healthy or not.

I know Congress has to weigh in on this proposed legislation, and I know there are a lot of Congress people in the Senate and the House who care about us who are either going to school thanks to Federal legislation and subsidies that keep us in class despite our disabilities, or are families of special needs students. We care about our right to an education because we haven't always been able to exercise this right. The old dogs among us who had polio remember what it was like if you were disabled and in school before these laws went into effect, and it wasn't pretty.

So that's why I get cranky when I don't hear how the Bush plan is going to ensure that disabled kids - one of whom feeds me regularly - get the same high-quality education that everyone else will get under his plan.

Here's my fear: The religious private schools aren't equipped to handle special needs, so they deny admission, or worse, they admit me and then can't deal with me. So I'm stuck in a failing public school with fewer funds because the voucher dogs siphoned the money off.

The sky hasn't fallen yet, which is why I'm only cranky. Our job is to make sure it doesn't. The federal government has decided to change the education landscape. We have to make sure we're still a part of it when they're through. For now, I'm making a list of my Senators and Representatives. And I'm going to wait to hear my name and my disease.