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Will Frankfort’s politicians skip town without helping special-needs children?

(Frankfort, Kentucky) – The House education committee is preparing to finish its work for the year without considering House Bill 30, which would create scholarships for Kentucky’s 109,000 special-needs children.

“Committee chairman Frank Rasche has indicated he will not give the bill a hearing,” said Becky Burton, volunteer coordinator of a statewide effort to promote the interests of special-needs children in Frankfort.

Burton is asking parents of special-needs children across the state to wear black shirts and show up for the final education committee meeting of the 2007 legislative session Tuesday at 8 a.m. (EST) in Room 129.

“We will fight for our children as long as it takes,” Burton said. “These lawmakers need to know they will be dealing with us until our children can get the quality education and basic services they need.”

The Kentucky Students with Special Needs Scholarship Program, which would be created by HB 30, offers scholarships to parents of learning-disabled students that could be used to send their children to at any qualified public or private school.

“We’re asking all parents of special-needs children in Kentucky to show up,” Burton said. “I have not talked to anybody – special-needs parents or otherwise – who do not think this is a good idea.”

She can be reached at (606) 669-7366 or Jeff_beckyburton@hotmail.com.

For interview information, contact Jim Waters, Director of Policy and Communications for the Bluegrass Institute. He can be reached at (270) 782-2140 or jwaters@bipps.org.

The Bluegrass Institute is an independent research and educational institution offering free-market solutions to Kentucky's most pressing problems.

Permission to reprint Perspective commentaries, in whole or in part, is hereby granted, provided the author and his affiliations are cited. Authors are available for interviews by contacting the Institute.

Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions
400 East Main Avenue, Bowling Green, KY 42101

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