Petition Purpose: Working to add a clause to SB 10 - Georgia Special Needs Scholarship Act, that would grandfather special needs children who are disqualified based on the current cutoff dates but who would otherwise meet the criteria of the Act. Help Us Make GA SB-10 a Fair Law! -We are a group of parents working to get an amendment passed to give relief to the parents of special needs kids who had already moved their child to a private school when the bill passed. Georgia Public Schools, despite fantastic people and effort, are not always the best environment or best equipped places for special needs kids. The state of Georgia has recognized this and passed SB-10 which pays the tuition at a private school for special needs kids. This turns out to be cheaper for the taxpayers and relives the overburdened public school system. Everyone wins except for the people who moved their children before this bill. Even if a child qualifies in every way other than the cut off date, to qualify they would have to go back to public school for a year and then reapply. This is unfair for all involved because: 1. The child was taken out of public school for a reason whether it was bullying or that the public school was not able to meet their needs or whatever. It is not fair to put the kids or the school through another year of a bad situation 2. Its not fair to the child to move them back to public school and then back to private school. This would be difficult for the most flexible of child and kids with special needs tend to be very adverse to change. This would be torture to many of these kids 3. Its not fair for the taxpayers to have to endure a higher cost during the year that the children are back in public school than to immediately pay the lower cost of keeping them in private school. 4. Its not fair to the public schools to have to gear up for a surge of special needs kids coming back into the system for one year. Will they simply rent the supplies and equipment for a year Will they hire a wave of one year contract teachers Lease a fleet of classroom trailers This all would seem to add to the already higher price tag. 5. Its not fair to the taxpaying family of that child to be asked to shoulder the cost of education when the family across the street with a child with the same needs is covered under SB-10. Some families are taking out thousands in loans while others don�t have to. 6. Its not fair to the child to gamble that they will still have a spot open at their private school once their one year sentence is complete back at public school. The one year may be longer unless the family can move closer to a private school with room. What Can You Do to Help Please sign this petition and ask your Georgian friends to sign too. Thanks GEORGIA RESIDENTS ONLY PLEASE!