Children with special needs who attend public schools in the Big Apple are not receiving the attention and services they need in different areas, despite the fact that the Department of Education of the City (DOE) continues to receive millionaire claims of “due process” by families who are denied these services, which shows the existing failures to provide therapies and necessary support.
This was denounced by the Municipal Comptroller’s Office, through a report that ensures that despite the fact that the DOE’s spending on claims for requests for private special education services has multiplied by 10 over the last decade, New York schools continue to take no action to provide Mandatory special education supports to all of the estimated 283,000 students with disabilities on campuses in the five boroughs, many of them Hispanic.
The control agency revealed that the DOE went from spending $33 million to $372 million between 2012 and 2022, for claims, while serious failures and inequities were evident in providing necessary services for children with disabilities, such as speech therapy. , occupational therapy and support plans in the classroom.
“We know that students with disabilities can thrive, but only when they get the services they need and to which they are legally entitled. Unfortunately, the Department of Education’s system of delivering those services is failing to deliver urgently needed services for thousands of children, especially low-income students of color, even as the cost of claims has increased tenfold,” said the Comptroller. , Brad Lander. “We can and must do better.”
Lander urged reforms within the public school system that better connect students to services in an effective way, where children and their parents receive the care and support programs they need, and that is cost-effective for the City. , without having to resort to demands or higher expenses.
According to the data provided by the Comptroller’s report, between the 2021-22 school year alone, the Department of Education ignored 13,800 recommendations for support services such as speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, or counseling for students in the grades Kindergarten through 12, which the children needed.
The report highlighted with particular concern that it is Latino and black students who are most affected by these types of violations, since it was found that in predominantly minority and low-income school districts, the DOE was more likely to be conspicuous by its absence. when offering the required services.
Another alarming fact that the Comptroller’s study brought to light is that almost 10,000 students with disabilities who attended preschool did not receive any type of special education service.
“Over the past decade, an increasing number of families have resorted to filing claims against the DOE to pay for these vital special education services for their children. While tuition reimbursement comprised the majority of due process claim payments in the past, claims for services other than tuition grew much faster, accounting for 58% of FY 2023 due process claim payments. to date,” the report warned.
Comptroller Lander complained that securing special education services for children with disabilities through grievances when the DOE fails to provide them places a significant burden on families of navigating a complex, time-consuming legal process to find services. , and incidentally increases costs to the City.
But beyond criticizing the failures found in the work of the Department of Education when it comes to providing vital services for children with disabilities, the Municipal Comptroller’s report issued a list of recommendations to improve the outlook.
The goal, according to the Comptroller’s Office, is to address the needs of students who need special education services with less expense than legal claims have meant.
One of Comptroller Lander’s suggestions is that service delivery be done directly by the DOE, in order to create a more equitable system that ensures that all children receive the support they need without the need for families to resort to legal actions.
“Recommendations include using a “pay for success” model that would invest 25% of annual claims spend to create a larger network of directly delivered multilingual special education services, increase recruitment and retention, offer rates of competitive contracts and restructure the evaluation and referral system, and establish standards for service providers to increase accountability and reduce fraud, ”warned the watchdog.
According to their recommendations, by providing high-quality special education services directly in public schools and for students who attend charter schools, community preschools, and nonpublic schools, “the City can eliminate disparities, minimize the need for action laws, reduce fraud, save taxpayer money, and—most importantly—fulfill your obligation to provide students with disabilities the services they need to thrive.”
After learning about the findings of the Comptroller’s study on children with disabilities, Councilwoman Rita Joseph, chair of the City Council’s Education Committee, asked the DOE for actions to improve the situation and correct its failures.
“It is unfathomable that in 2023 the Department of Education will not provide mandated special education services to New York City students. This report highlights what families, students, and education advocates have been fighting for year after year,” said the political leader. “The educational pathway within the New York City school system lacks inclusion and accessibility for our most vulnerable New Yorkers.”
Amy Tsai, vice president of the New York City Coalition to Raise Families Together, criticized the Department of Education for not doing its homework and for overlooking vital needs for children with disabilities.
“Within the larger urban education system, the Department of Education has largely neglected the provision of adequate, accessible, inclusive, equitable, and mandatory special education programs and services with accommodations for students with disabilities,” said the activist, who narrowed that thousands of students with disabilities in underserved communities of color and poor communities bear the brunt.
The defender went further and complained to the DOE for not taking action to change the course, despite the fact that the claims for not doing their homework continue to show the failures they are having to provide the mandatory services.
“Over the past decade, the number of families filing lawsuits against the DOE has increased exponentially, and the DOE has failed to improve its special educational services required by federal and state laws that protect the rights of students with disabilities. I, as the mother of several children with disabilities, want these recommendations to be taken seriously and hold the DOE accountable in every area of special education,” Tsai said. “Our children with disabilities deserve better, dignity and respect.”
Cheryelle Cruickshank, executive director of the organization INCLUDEnyc, called on the Department of Education to put special education services and inclusion programs on its list of priorities.
“This report confirms the need for the City to immediately prioritize meeting the educational needs of nearly 300,000 New York City students with disabilities and their families. The administration must dedicate more funds and human resources to reduce racial and socioeconomic disparities in the provision of required special education services,” said the activist.
Regarding the failures indicated in the Comptroller’s report, the Department of Education recognized that schools need to improve, but they assured that they are making progress in favor of children with disabilities and their better educational attention.
“We agree that more must be done. This fall, we are proud to open more high-quality seats than ever before through a $51.8 million investment in programs and support for students with autism, dyslexia, and emotional disabilities, and to expand bilingual special education seat capacity to more than 4,000,” said Nicole Brownstein, a DOE spokeswoman. “The DOE is tremendously proud of the innovative specialized programs and services we have developed and of this Administration’s unprecedented commitment to growth and equity in special education.”
Likewise, the official assured that they are working with private schools through the IDEA consultation to guarantee the implementation of effective services from high-quality accredited schools, and stressed that they know that the Comptroller “is aware of our commitment to rectify the challenges of long standing”.
Failures Reported Against the DOE on Special Education Services in Numbers
- An estimated 283,000 students with disabilities are in schools
- $372 million in claims for special education services not provided the City has had to pay
- $33 million were claims for failure to provide services in 2012
- Expenditure on failure claims in those areas has grown 10 times
- 13,800 recommendations for special education support services were ignored by the DOE last school year
- 10,000 preschool students with disabilities did not receive any type of special education services
- 58% were FY 2023 YTD Due Process Claim Payments