From MyFox.com in Detroit comes the story of an autistic little boy and how he’s being treated at school.

Jessica Cross of Dearborn Heights is frustrated with her children’s school after her 8-year-old autistic son was told not to bring his Bible to class anymore, and then her 6-year-old daughter’s worksheet referenced alcohol. Her children attend Highview Elementary.She says her son, Jason, would take his Bible to school as his book of choice to read during free time. He was eventually told that book is “only for church, not school.”Cross says this was just the beginning of her frustration with this school. She says, for months, she’s been disgusted with the way her special needs son has been treated.

 

If Jessica lived in North Carolina, she could investigate the state’s opportunity scholarship program as an option for Jason.  I recently wrote about this incredible option and the amazing children it will help.

He is unable to walk like kids his age, but my niece’s son gave his family the best gift ever when he pulled himself up and balanced against a fence while playing in the Arizona sunshine. It was a blessing for his parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles who, every single day, deal with disabilities that stem from his premature birth.

It is children like this sweet little boy who will benefit from the compassion of North Carolina’s Republican-led General Assembly. Earlier this year, legislators approved a scholarship for families of school-aged kids with special needs — families who face formidable education challenges not being met by the traditional public school system. By transitioning the existing special-needs tax credit to a scholarship, more North Carolina families — including kids whose parents were too poor to pay taxes — can now qualify for help. 

House Speaker Pro Tem Paul “Skip” Stam, R-Wake, estimates that around 1,000 students will benefit from the new special-needs scholarship next year. To qualify, a child must have a documented disability. Expenses of up to $6,000 per year are covered, including tuition and home-school education services. A family’s income is irrelevant; the goal is to help these children.