Oh, this is a nice story: seems some legislators in Indiana thought they could advance the cause of school vouchers by proposing them for families of autistic children. Because Lord knows, there are all those quality private autism programs out there as alternatives to the public ones.

An effort to use poor children to advance their school voucher campaign failed last year, so House Republican leaders this year are turning to children with autism.
“We have to walk before we begin to run in the school choice arena,” House Speaker Brian Bosma told the Indianapolis Star in November. “I think this is the next step, to look at those who could be served better and more efficiently.”
The speaker’s words reveal the ultimate goal: steering tax dollars from public education to private and parochial schools. It’s telling that the Autism Society of Indiana, the Indiana Autism Coalition and other disability advocates have said they will not support the proposed scholarship program.
“There’s a concern that they are putting forth this bill without having consulted anyone in the autism community,” said Susan Pieples, president of the Autism Society of Indiana. “We want to make sure we’re not being used as a pawn for school choice.”
She said House leaders showed “little integrity” in proposing the voucher plan without first consulting those most affected.
Pieples, whose 19-year-old son has an autism spectrum disorder, said she has met with Bosma and other lawmakers since the voucher plan was announced and will meet with him today, but still is concerned that they didn’t begin by asking the autism community for its input. If they had, they would have been told that there are few options outside of public schools for students with autism. Vouchers will do little to help if there’s no place to use them.

Takes shamelessness to new levels.