Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

LITTLE could be more frustrating for the parent of a disabled child than to find no suitable program in the public schools. Texas lawmakers and school officials must correct this problem without delay. A proposal to allow autistic children to use publicly funded vouchers at specialized private schools, however, is a political ploy masquerading as a solution.

For many Texas legislative sessions, groups of lawmakers have tried but failed to pass a school voucher plan. This time, state Sen. Florence Shapiro, the Plano Republican who heads the Senate Education Committee, is backing a plan that is sure to appeal to parents of autistic children.

Diagnoses of autism in children have been rising sharply, and the parents of these learning-disabled youngsters are becoming a vocal group in medical and legislative circles. Their growing clout and the swell of public sympathy for families dealing with autism could well lead to passage of an autism-specific voucher program in Texas.

But it would be bad public policy.

The public has resisted vouchers because they would have drained critical dollars from this state's grossly underfunded public school system. Vouchers would direct those dollars to private and parochial schools, but the state could not ensure the public's money would be well-spent and appropriate academic standards met. Vouchers might hold out hope to a few failing students stuck in failing schools. But most parents want their children to attend the nearest public school.

To provide vouchers only for students who have autism would be unfair to the thousands of families of children who have other forms of learning disabilities, as well as to those who have mental retardation and severe physical handicaps. Also, experts say, early intervention is crucial to improving outcomes for autistic children. Texas must find ways to help parents meet the needs of their children long before they reach school age.

The Houston Independent School District tailors instruction for each autistic student. Some attend regular classes, some are in smaller special education classes and some attend both. That should be the case for every autistic student in Texas, but vouchers would not make it so.

Lawmakers would better use their time in the coming legislative session to find ways to meet the needs of the more than 17,000 autistic students now in the Texas public school system. One way to accomplish that might be to provide incentives for opening charter schools that specialize in educating autistic and other disabled children.

Many Texas charters have been successful in improving educational outcomes for students at risk of academic failure. It's probable that similar success could be found with disabled learners who have mental, social and physical dysfunction. And charter schools have the added benefit for taxpayers of being subject to state oversight, so that poorly run operations can be improved or shut down.

In proposing her voucher plan for autistic children, Shapiro has brought an important issue to the fore. Now lawmakers must grapple with the problem and solve it in a way that is fair for all disabled students.