Sunday, October 15, 2006

Bill McReynolds Balances budget - cuts funding for special ed?

“Unfortunately he balanced the budget on the backs of special needs education kids....but I guess they don’t vote”.

The above comment was recently posted to a Journal-Times weblog in response to an article discussing the proposed Racine County budget – but is this an accurate statement or is just the usual pontificating of the average JT blogger ?

Way back in May 2003, the Racine County Board decided to dissolve the Racine County Children with Disabilities Education Board (RCCDEB) which for decades had provided special educational services to the children who live in the western end of Racine County. The resolution allowed the affected communities time to prepare for providing these services in their respective school districts. As of June 30th of this year, Racine County is officially out of the special education business.

Given the fact that McReynolds was not voted into the County Executive’s office until April 2003, and government bodies are known to move slowly on any kind of legislation, I would venture a guess that McReynolds had very little to do with the initial resolution that was passed a mere month after he took office.

But I have come to expect nothing less from the people of this community - apparently it is completely acceptable to blast someone that is “unpopular” without knowing all the facts.

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