Parochial Schools

[custercounty]

Hearing that state AD's have discussed proposing that Parochial school enrollment be multiplied by a "x" factor.
I.E. 1.5 to more fairly place them in the class they belong in. Since the public schools are unable to control their enrollment as they do.
I know that other states do this. I was wondering if anyone has ever looked to see in states that use this policy, if they state championships are spread out more between public and parochial.
2015 VB championships--- 4 of 6 were won by parochial.
In C-1 ---14 of last 15 VB state championships were won by parochial.

What are others thoughts on multiplying parochial enrollment by x factor to possibly move them up a class??

 

[JET20]

Hearing that state AD's have discussed proposing that Parochial school enrollment be multiplied by a "x" factor.
I.E. 1.5 to more fairly place them in the class they belong in. Since the public schools are unable to control their enrollment as they do.
I know that other states do this. I was wondering if anyone has ever looked to see in states that use this policy, if they state championships are spread out more between public and parochial.
2015 VB championships--- 4 of 6 were won by parochial.
In C-1 ---14 of last 15 VB state championships were won by parochial.

What are others thoughts on multiplying parochial enrollment by x factor to possibly move them up a class??

How do parochial schools control their enrollment?

 

[viewfromthebooth]

A few years ago there was talk of a 1.34 multiplier but nothing ever materialized. Stu Pospisil had an article a few weeks back that had small snippet of longest current streak of winning seasons and losing seasons by football teams in Nebraska. He only went the top 7 or 8 schools for each. The consecutive winning seasons was dominated by private/parochial schools even though Bloomfield was 1st with 34 consecutive winning seasons and the consecutive losing seasons was all public schools. At the end of the article he stated something about it and that he would get into that topic at a later time but felt that the NSAA was going to do something. Doug Duda also commented about this subject on The Doug and Daddy Show on Monday but he too did not elaborate on it very much. He said it would take an entire show to discuss.
It's going to be a touchy subject but I think it is something that the NSAA should discuss.

 

[Loatsey]

Hearing that state AD's have discussed proposing that Parochial school enrollment be multiplied by a "x" factor.
I.E. 1.5 to more fairly place them in the class they belong in. Since the public schools are unable to control their enrollment as they do.
I know that other states do this. I was wondering if anyone has ever looked to see in states that use this policy, if they state championships are spread out more between public and parochial.
2015 VB championships--- 4 of 6 were won by parochial.
In C-1 ---14 of last 15 VB state championships were won by parochial.

What are others thoughts on multiplying parochial enrollment by x factor to possibly move them up a class??

I think it's an absolute must!! It would finally bring some fairness to the public schools that don't get to recruit all the best athletes!! Please don't come back with, we don't recruit.............!!

 

[coffeedrinker11]

I find it interesting that people want to penalize private schools. In a large community like Omaha maybe they can recruit. In smaller communities it appears to me that it's generational, parents went to the private school, grand parents went, so it's just expected. It would be interesting to see how many of the athletes are from out of the area that are attending the school.

 

[zebra57]

I think it's an absolute must!! It would finally bring some fairness to the public schools that don't get to recruit all the best athletes!! Please don't come back with, we don't recruit.............!!

 

[Lucky76]

Here we go again, people give it a rest already. What if this does go through and private schools jump up a class and continue their success, what will you people complain about then?

 

[madking1]

I think it's an absolute must!! It would finally bring some fairness to the public schools that don't get to recruit all the best athletes!! Please don't come back with, we don't recruit.............!!

Oh God here we go again with the recruiting crap. If a kid chooses to go to a parochial school, whether it's for religious reasons, academic reasons or yes, even for athletic reasons- that's not RECRUITING- it's a kid and his / her family making a choice.

 

[runningback43]

Fremont got some transfers in this fall for basketball. Two of them came from Omaha Central. Is that recruiting?

Is this a new thread, or one that was recycled from any of the previous 10 years?

 

[madking1]

Priest to prospective recruit: "We really want you to come to our school"
Prospective recruit: "What's in it for me?"
Priest: "Well...your parents get to spend thousands of dollars on tuition"
Prospective recruit: "Is that it?"
Priest: "Well I could throw in an Our Father and a couple of Hail Mary's"
Prospective recruit: "Wow! where do I sign"

 

[Cy Tolliver]

How do parochial schools control their enrollment?

Public schools have to accept any student the moves into their school district. Private / parochial can " hand pick" to a sense who they accept and who they don't. That is where a big part of the argument is focused. IMHO priv./paro. Don't turn as many kids away as some make it out to be. I also don't think they recruit.

It's really move of a case of the haves vs have nots. 2parent households with strong values and the money to put their children through a system where they don't have to worried about socioecomic problems, negative friendships influencing their child, and possible values or morals that are outside what the family / congregation thinks, is what drives priv. / paro. Schools. David City & Aquinas, Hastings & St. Celia, Fremont & Fremont Bergan, Humphrey & St. Francis all fit this. When all the " haves" go to one school what's left over are the have nots. I'm not saying public education is bad, I think the exact opposite. I'm a strong supporter for public school system.

This is just my take on the whole scenario, I really don't care either. I'm more on the side of get better and promote the program and coach/ teach young adults to become better all around, contributing members of society. Feel free to tear me apart!!

 

[Lucky76]

Public schools have to accept any student the moves into their school district. Private / parochial can " hand pick" to a sense who they accept and who they don't. That is where a big part of the argument is focused. IMHO priv./paro. Don't turn as many kids away as some make it out to be. I also don't think they recruit.

It's really move of a case of the haves vs have nots. 2parent households with strong values and the money to put their children through a system where they don't have to worried about socioecomic problems, negative friendships influencing their child, and possible values or morals that are outside what the family / congregation thinks, is what drives priv. / paro. Schools. David City & Aquinas, Hastings & St. Celia, Fremont & Fremont Bergan, Humphrey & St. Francis all fit this. When all the " haves" go to one school what's left over are the have nots. I'm not saying public education is bad, I think the exact opposite. I'm a strong supporter for public school system.

This is just my take on the whole scenario, I really don't care either. I'm more on the side of get better and promote the program and coach/ teach young adults to become better all around, contributing members of society. Feel free to tear me apart!!

So your saying a parent shows up with a $5000 check for tuition you think one of these schools you listed would turn that money down to control their enrollment? I don't but that at all.

 

[hammer the rock]

You are referring to the "smaller communities" like Lincoln (Pius, Christian), Columbus (Scotus), Kearney (Kearney Catholic), Norfolk (Norfolk Catholic, Lutheran HIgh), Grand Island (GICC), Hastings (Hastings St. Cecilia), Omaha (Skutt), Fremont (Bergan). Exactly what are the larger communities in the state? Glad some of the largest communities can represent Class C1 and C2 so well. lol

 

[viewfromthebooth]

Calling it recruiting isn't the correct word because I'm guessing coaches/administrators aren't sitting in the parents living room trying to sell the benefits of the school. Let alone 3 or 4 different schools making a sales pitch. But I'm also guessing there is some sort selling/enticing of the school done. It's interesting to see a team with 37 kids out for football playing 8-man when their enrollment number fits in the C-2 classification and there are other C-2 schools with roster numbers in the low 20's playing 11-man. If it's about the benefits that Cy Tolliver mentioned above it should have nothing to do with sports and all about the education the student receives to be a positive addition to society after finishing their education regardless of that level. If a kid is a 1000 yard rusher or averages 18 points a game in basketball does he get asked to leave the program if his parents can't pay the tuition?

 

[madking1]

Public schools have to accept any student the moves into their school district. Private / parochial can " hand pick" to a sense who they accept and who they don't. That is where a big part of the argument is focused. IMHO priv./paro. Don't turn as many kids away as some make it out to be. I also don't think they recruit.

It's really move of a case of the haves vs have nots. 2parent households with strong values and the money to put their children through a system where they don't have to worried about socioecomic problems, negative friendships influencing their child, and possible values or morals that are outside what the family / congregation thinks, is what drives priv. / paro. Schools. David City & Aquinas, Hastings & St. Celia, Fremont & Fremont Bergan, Humphrey & St. Francis all fit this. When all the " haves" go to one school what's left over are the have nots. I'm not saying public education is bad, I think the exact opposite. I'm a strong supporter for public school system.

This is just my take on the whole scenario, I really don't care either. I'm more on the side of get better and promote the program and coach/ teach young adults to become better all around, contributing members of society. Feel free to tear me apart!!

I can't speak for other schools, but I've never known our Catholic school to turn away anyone who wants to get a Catholic education. There is even a fund established to help the "have nots", as you call them, with tuition if they can't afford it. And there are plenty of two parent household, strong value "haves" that send their kids to the public schools. I'm sure David City, Hastings, Fremont and Humphrey will be surprised to learn that they are basically Reform Schools in disguise.

 

[huskerfan1414]

It's amazing to me the amount of people that know absolutely nothing about parochial schools or how they operate yet make assumptions and speak as though they know what should be done anyway. Try to listen..
If you think they turn people away, recruit, give athletic scholarships, or don't help the impoverished... you are wrong. I know it hurts to hear that, but none of that is true.

 

[oldzebra2000]

There is a few Catholic schools that dominate sports yes. So let's punish them all with a multiplier. LOL. Funny stuff. How about the handful of public schools that seem to dominate every year...the Millard schools...Elkhorn...Omaha Central...how about a multiplier for them? This argument is ridiculous. Every Catholic school is different. So lets blast a multiplier on them all to "level the playing field"...sounds like the government...

 

[oldzebra2000]

I will be honest...my kids go to a catholic school...and they have hardly dominated. They do ok in sports. But to say they have advantages is preposterous. Advantages in what? We lose good athletes to the public school in town all the time...due to the tuition cost...facilities...class offerings...etc...we don't have advantages...we don't turn kids away...hell we are looking at getting ANY kid so we can keep the doors open! Doesn't matter if they can play sports or not. This argument is arbitrary and unsubstantiated with any credible data at all other than looking at "who is in the title games". Give it a rest. Some schools just have a great system in place for sports...be it public or private. Sounds like just a bunch of haters who want to punish a few achievers.

 

[Buff-alo]

Do me a favor, get on the NDE website and look at enrollment numbers....compare private to public as far as free and reduced lunch and migrant and ESL population. When it comes to a competitive edge, you can't tell me that this puts a C2 public and private school on the same competitive level. If you disagree with me, just keep drinking the kool-aide. What is amazing is the NSAA has to commission a study to look into it, waste of money in my eyes, it's pretty obvious in the lower classes there is a difference. You can also keep your better students/program/coaching as to why private schools succeed line to yourself, I'm not buying it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the STC state basketball teams from a couple years back have 9 players on it from 9 different zipcodes?

 

[northeastNebraska]

First off, I went to a public high school. This is the worst argument of all arguments. Catholic schools don't actively recruits kids, I swear some of you people think coaches go out and get in parents living rooms and tell them their kid should go to their school because of athletes. This isn't college.

Public schools do more "recruiting" (and I wouldn't even call it that, more like a pitch.) than private. Fremont got two kids from Omaha Central and one from Cedar Bluffs to play basketball.

I knew two kids who went to an excellent catholic school but transferred to a public school (out of town) for basketball reasons only. Heck I remember our coach having us pitch to our friends/kids in the spring about "Man if we had you on our team we could make a deep run at state this fall." It happens in public schools a ton.

If parents want to spend $5,000+ on tuition per child, good for them. Those kids deserve to be apart of something great. I was a volunteer coach at a small Catholic school in Nebraska and to say all the kids came from the wealthy families is incorrect.

It's not like they turn kids away, they aren't going to turn away Tuition money because they need it to survive as they get no state aide. They turn some kids away (in some cases special education, because they don't have the faculty to have a special education department.)

They don't have the fancy basketball uniforms public schools get every three years, or have the fanciest gym or football field either. A lot of people who say Catholic schools recruit are incompetent and probably got beat bad by those Catholic schools when they were in school and now are trying to live vicariously through their children which is sad.

To say there needs to be a multiplier is baffling. So you want to raise Aquinas to C1? Pretty sure they would have made the semi-finals or finals. You want to raise St. Cecilia back to C1? Well they dominated 5-7 years ago they could do it again. St. Mary's back to D1? Fine by them. HSF back to D1? I don't think they would mind. But they don't have the numbers to do so.

I swear some people act like these smaller schools just have kids on a piece of paper and pick and choose by if they are athletic or not. Grow up and put your kid in a better place to succeed if you have to complain about things you can't control.

 

[northeastNebraska]

You can also keep your better students/program/coaching as to why private schools succeed line to yourself, I'm not buying it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the STC state basketball teams from a couple years back have 9 players on it from 9 different zipcodes?

I highly doubt that is true, but even if it is, kids can travel to a public school, just as they can to a private school. Also Hastings is different because the closest school to them is Donipahn-Trumbell. Here are towns that surround Hastings that don't have a school.

Inland
Glenvil
Ayr
Ingleside
Juniata
Hansen

 

[rednebraska10]

The Nebraska Christian cross country teams that have dominated the state meet over the past 4-5 years have had a maximum of one scorer from the Central City area on each of those teams.

 

[hailvictors2]

Private Schools have fewer (in any) sped kids. That is a HUGE advantage. When you look at an enrollment number and a public school is 125 that includes about 20 kids on an IEP. The private schools 125 is a legit 125. Anyone who denies this is dillusional.

As for recruiting....I don't think private schools recruit. I think their reputation recruits for itself. If you lived in Columbus and liked volleyball (or football), why would you want to go to Columbus High? Same can be asked about a kid living in Kearney or Fremont or Norfolk. The private schools win and that keeps bringing in kids. It isn't like those coaches sit in living rooms of possible recruits.

That said, to deny the fact a private school has an advantage is insane. Simple fact....if a classification is made up of 20% private schools and 80% public schools then the post season tournament for that class should have roughly the same representation. That is rarely the case. There were 7 private schools in C2 football this year. That means the classification was roughly 86% public and 14% private. Of the 16 team post season field roughly 2-3 should have been private schools to stay in that 14% range. Five of those 7 private school teams made the playoffs and the two that didn't Hartington CC and LHNE were two of the first teams out. That's facts...can't argue with facts.

 

[HUSKER10]

You can't put Norfolk Catholic in this discussion.

Norfolk Catholic is one of the smallest C1 schools. Also, last year's Senior class had over 20 kids transfer, throughout their high school years. All transferred to Norfolk High because of more opportunities. NC has seen their student body continue to shrink and are in fear they will drop to C2 this next classification. They are on the bubble.

I don't know about the other schools but I can definitely say NC is struggling to get and keep students. I really have a hard time buying into anything that was said above.

 

[HUSKER10]

This was posted no long ago from another poster. I believe it's pretty close.

This is the C1/C2 projected classifications and student count.
Concordia/Omaha Stret (238/13) 251 C-1
Gothenburg 238 C-1
Columbus Lakeview 236 C-1
Adams Central 230 C-1
Wahoo 225 C-1
Wayne 218 C-1
Cozad 212 C-1
Douglas County West 212 C-1
Milford/Dorchester (171/36) 207 C-1
Boys Town 200 C-1
Fairbury 198 C-1
Columbus Scotus 195 C-1
Ogallala 192 C-1
Chadron 187 C-1
Falls City 184 C-1
Ashland-Greenwood 180 C-1
Boone Central/Newman-Grove (137/42) 179 C-1
West Point-Beemer 176 C-1
Auburn 173 C-1
Fort Calhoun 172 C-1
O'Neill 171 C-1
Kearney Catholic 161 C-1
Syracuse 161 C-1
Broken Bow 157 C-1
Minden 157 C-1
Raymond Central 155 C-1
Gordon-Rushville 151 C-1
Arlington 150 C-1
Bishop Neumann 150 C-1
Pierce 150 C-1
Conestoga 148 C-1
Ord 148 C-1
David City 147 C-1
North Bend Central 142 C-1
Chase County 140 C-1
Louisville 139 C-1
Mitchell 139 C-1
Aquinas Catholic 138 C-1
Grand Island Central Catholic 138 C-1
Lincoln Christian 138 C-1
Madison 138 C-1
Southern/Lewiston (90/48) 138 C-1
Norfolk Catholic 136 C-1
Valentine 135 C-1


Central City 135 C-2
St. Paul 135 C-2
Hershey 133 C-2
Lincoln Lutheran 130 C-2
Logan View 127 C-2
Malcolm 126 C-2
Bridgeport 124 C-2
Fillmore Central 123 C-2
Gibbon 121 C-2
Tekamah-Herman 121 C-2
Wilber-Clatonia 120 C-2
Johnson County Central 118 C-2
Ponca 117 C-2
Southern Valley 117 C-2
Wood River 116 C-2
Kimball 114 C-2
Centennial 113 C-2
Yutan 112 C-2
Sutton 111 C-2
Battle Creek 110 C-2
Hastings St. Cecilia 110 C-2
Omaha Brownell-Talbot 110 C-2
Centura 107 C-2
Doniphan-Trumbull 105 C-2
Loup City/Arcadia (78/27) 105 C-2
Shelby/Rising City 103 C-2
Sandy Creek/Clay Center 102 C-2
Wisner-Pilger 102 C-2
Bancroft-Rosalie/Lyons Decatur Northeast (59/42) 101 C-2
Twin River 101 C-2
Crofton 100 C-2
Stanton 100 C-2
Elmwood-Murdock 98 C-2
Hartington Cedar Catholic 97 C-2
Palmyra 95 C-2
Bayard 93 C-2
Cross County ** 92 C-2
Archbishop Bergan 90 C-2
Oakland-Craig 90 C-2
Freeman 89 C-2
Homer 89 C-2
North Platte St. Patrick's 88 C-2
Humboldt-Table Rock- Steinauer 86 C-2
Lutheran High Northeast 74 C-2

 

[huskersox86]

Private schools do recruit. No, it's not done by the school or administrators directly. Actually, in many cases, I don't even think the school has any knowledge of it. It's done by the parents/boosters. I've seen this happen. 3 or 4 of our students and their parents surrounded by booster members of a different school at a local restaurant. An e-mail sent to the parent of an elementary student from a parent/volunteer assistant coach of the other school saying that it would be great for their kid to come play at the private school because they will win championships there. No, I will not give specific names or schools because that's not fair to the athletes or school to blast them all over the internet. Call me a liar if you want, I really don't care. Yes it was reported.

Also, my argument isn't that they recruit as a reason for a multiplier. It's the lack of the SPED numbers and Free and Reduced Lunch kids that they don't have walking their halls. The lack of these students is what keeps them in a lower class. Our school has around 50% free and reduced lunch. I would bet that many private schools do not have to deal with that low socioeconomic standard.

 

[nenebskers]

Nebraska Christian cross country? I hope that is sarcasm your using.

What have the Crofton girls CC won in a row? 9, 10, 11? They MUST be recruiting as well!

 

[holmz]

Private Schools have Zero sped kids. That is a HUGE advantage. When you look at an enrollment number and a public school is 125 that includes about 20 kids on an IEP. The private schools 125 is a legit 125. Anyone who denies this is probably someone that needs an IEP.

False. Private schools have students who have physical, learning, and behavior disabilities just like public schools. They have resources and often special education teachers available for these students. Some public schools will pay for IEPs for students in private schools. If not, these students have personalized plans that are very similar to IEPs.

As for your last sentence, is there something wrong with having an IEP? Whether you are from a private or public school, I think we can all agree it's not okay to poke fun at those students.

 

[holmz]

Private schools do recruit. No, it's not done by the school or administrators directly. Actually, in many cases, I don't even think the school has any knowledge of it. It's done by the parents/boosters. I've seen this happen. 3 or 4 of our students and their parents surrounded by booster members of a different school at a local restaurant. An e-mail sent to the parent of an elementary student from a parent/volunteer assistant coach of the other school saying that it would be great for their kid to come play at the private school because they will win championships there. No, I will not give specific names or schools because that's not fair to the athletes or school to blast them all over the internet. Call me a liar if you want, I really don't care. Yes it was reported.

This very well could happen, but if it does it's at a very small percentage of schools. The same thing also takes place at public schools, however. With open enrollment, the rules are no different.

 

[Buff-alo]

Just to point out....I said nothing about recruiting. I agree with reputation of a school, public or private, does it's own recruiting. What I'm saying is the make ups of the student bodies are entirely different. SPED/Low Income-Free and Reduced Lunch/ESL-Migrant kids have a huge impact on a C1/C2 student body population. When you compare a 120 student population in a private and public, there will be more for the private school to pick from. I'm not saying they don't have any of those kids, but their numbers are extremely low in these areas. Same conversation, different year, the privates will tell their side of the story and the publics will stick with theirs. The key to all of this is the NSAA is addressing it. I think a multiplier is something that should be considered, or look at the impact of those students populations listed above and factor that into enrollment. I think Colorado allows struggling schools to submit their ESL/Free and Reduced percentages when making a case for reclassification, not 100% sure on that. Maybe that is the direction the NSAA needs to go. Interest in what the study shows, that's for sure. Also, interesting when public school recruiting gets brought up it's all Class A examples, we all know "all" Class A schools recruit (especially in Lincoln/Omaha). I think the private/public debate dwells more in the C1/C2 area. Private school dominance has been more evident in these classes, just look at your state qualifiers every year, the numbers speak for themselves.

 

[hailvictors2]

^^^^^ This is spot on

 

[1234sports]

Do me a favor, get on the NDE website and look at enrollment numbers....compare private to public as far as free and reduced lunch and migrant and ESL population. When it comes to a competitive edge, you can't tell me that this puts a C2 public and private school on the same competitive level. If you disagree with me, just keep drinking the kool-aide. What is amazing is the NSAA has to commission a study to look into it, waste of money in my eyes, it's pretty obvious in the lower classes there is a difference. You can also keep your better students/program/coaching as to why private schools succeed line to yourself, I'm not buying it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the STC state basketball teams from a couple years back have 9 players on it from 9 different zipcodes?

So Buff you are saying Free & reduced lunch, and esl kids can't play sports. Because using this argument, that is what you are saying. It is clear you are not drinking cool aid..but you should lay off the spirits...

BTW my kids went to public schools. I went to catholic. I am very familiar with both. There is no recruiting. They have free and reduced lunch kids and ESL kids.

 

[1234sports]

^^^^^ This is spot on

Hail this surprises me coming from you. When you played at Elkhorn how many sped kids could not compete. 90% of the SPED population are kids that need help with reading or math or have a mild disability like dilexia. there are usually 1-2 kids that are total special needs. Most small town c1-d1 schools don't have the facilities to take these kids and they end up moving to a town that can.

 

[hailvictors2]

False. Private schools have students who have physical, learning, and behavior disabilities just like public schools. They have resources and often special education teachers available for these students. Some public schools will pay for IEPs for students in private schools. If not, these students have personalized plans that are very similar to IEPs.

As for your last sentence, is there something wrong with having an IEP? Whether you are from a private or public school, I think we can all agree it's not okay to poke fun at those students.

My apologies if I offended you. I have made changes accordingly

 

[sports10]

Parochial school and recruiting debate again. Nebraska needs to look into what Indiana does with teams that dominate their sport. A team that wins their district or qualifies state for X amount of years in a row will be bumped up one classification. This would help both public and private schools. How many district titles or state appearance will a team need to win to be moved up? I am thinking 3 or 4 in a row. How long do they stay moved up one classification? I don't have answer for that question.
This scenario would not single out parochial schools and treat all schools the same.
Thoughts?

 

[Ponchn7138]

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/e...ckling-public-private-school-sports-imbalance

 

[Ponchn7138]

http://www.kansas.com/sports/high-school/article1029610.html

 

[nenebskers]

Not argueing, just trying to learn from your prospective. Should the multiplier be used in all sports and for both genders?

If so how do you handle class D football when a school gets bumped up to 11 man and possibly doesn't have adequate numbers to field a 11 man team and now they may be facing safety concerns that homer, Laurel, Ainsworth, and some other schools have faced over the past few years? Wouldn't this be counter productive in a very discouraging way?

Also, how about public schools that have high % of ESL/ migrant students? In boys soccer Omaha South, south sioux city, Lexington, and even Crete to a degree have shown very successful levels of success. Should they be added to the multiplier list because of their advantage.

Just playing devils advocate here, be interested in your thoughts.

 

[Ponchn7138]

how each state handles classification. http://highschoolsports.cleveland.c...nal-fight-between-public-and-private-schools/

 

[teachmehowtosnuggie]

I'm going to throw out a distinction that I feel needs to be made, because it is something I've dealt with and continue to deal with.

Special Education students and a student having an IEP are different things. I have a sister who was in all special education classes because of disabilities. Obviously people in these situations are not going to be able to participate in athletics (to the fullest extent). I knew of several students who had IEPs and in my current profession, I see numerous students with IEPs who do not fall into the sped classification. Why do I make this distinction? Because I've personally seen students with IEPs be pretty great football players and go onto to play sports in college. Yes, I know that isn't always the case, but every year thousands of students graduate from high school that had IEPs and go onto become successful people. I just don't like how people think that when a student has an IEP that they are somehow less of a person.

Also, I know of a few catholic schools where if a student needs an IEP, they work with the public school in town to help me the child's needs if they cannot. So parochial schools (some at least) can and do deal with IEPs. Maybe not to the extent of public schools, but still, they are willing to if they can get the student in their doors.