It's really common to blame special needs kids for the rising costs of education. It's common and it's ugly.

The Wall Street Journal says that private-school tuition for special ed kids is a burden on the system. The public schools in New York City cannot serve the needs of many special education students, so those kids are sent to private programs, and the city picks up the check. The Wall Street Journal whines that this responsibility places a $116 burden on the system.

"The DOE said it offers students a strong and comprehensive range of
special-ed services, including innovative programs for children with
autism and other severe disabilities. It said that on the rare occasion
when it can't provide a particular service, it doesn't contest the
parents' efforts to get tuition reimbursement."

(I included that paragraph for one reader, who I know needs a good laugh today.)

Jay P. Greene writes a stellar response. 

If private school tuition really is a “burden” as the title asserts,
the cost of private-placement should be a significant portion of the New
York City school budget.  It isn’t.  If you look at the
NYC education budget you see that schools spent a total of $17.9
billion in 2009.  The total cost of private placement is only $116
million, which is about .6% of total spending.  This is close to
rounding error for NYC.

(via Joanne Jacobs)