Council Passes Legislation to Help Nearly a Quarter Million Public School Students with Disabilities Get Services They Need
Following James’ Lawsuit Council to Pass Her Legislation Mandating Tracking to Give Students with Disabilities Necessary Assistance
New York, NY – New York City public schools had 224,160 students with disabilities nearly 40,000 receiving only partial or none of their mandated services during the 2017-18 school year. Then-Public Advocate, now-Attorney General Letitia James, sued the Department of Education in 2016 over a failure to track and thereby deprive disabled students of necessary assistance.
James introduced Int. 900 on May 9, 2018, which was co-sponsored and is now carried by Council Member Ben Kallos. This legislation seeks to guarantee that students with disabilities receive necessary services by increasing reporting from an annual basis to three times a school year and expanding what is reported to include: speech therapy, counseling, occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), hearing education services, vision education services, assistive technology services, and special transportation services (busing).
“No child should be denied services because of their zip code or where they attend school,” said Attorney General Letitia James. ”I was proud to have been a sponsor of this bill, which will provide critical information for the City’s 225,000 students with disabilities. I thank Council Member Kallos for continuing to prioritize New York’s youngest and most vulnerable communities.”
“Our education system has been failing one in five children with disabilities by failing to give them the mandated services they need to perform,” said Council Member Ben Kallos. “Thank you to Tish James for taking this issue to court and authoring what will be a vital law. Instead of only having data from previous years, we will finally be able to hold the Department of Education accountable to deliver services to children with disabilities while they are in school.”
According to a 2016 lawsuit filed by then-New York City Public Advocate Letitia James, a $130 million system the City put into place to track services for students with disabilities known as Special Education Student Information System (SESIS) was a failure and due to problems with the tracking system children were deprived of services and assistance they were entitled to under the law. Moreover, New York City lost out on $356 million in federal Medicaid reimbursements set aside for special education services for fiscal years 2012, 2013 and 2014. The SESIS was supposed to allow educators to log into the software and quickly see what Individualized Education Programs (IEP) students were entitled to. It was supposed to include details about initial evaluations, meetings with parents, services provided and updates in the students' plan. However, the system was plagued with technical issues and failed to do what it promised.
In 2018, New York City released a report proving that that problem still persisted, detailing that nearly 40,000 special education students, or roughly only 22% of the students with specials needs, received the special services and interventions they were entitled to. This report was required by Local Law 27 of 2015 authored by then-Education Chair Danny Dromm. Many special needs students were found to have received no support whatsoever.
“I’ve spent more high school on crutches, re-learning how to walk. The physical accessibility issues I faced are a lot like those you heard about: I been trapped in old, poorly maintained elevators at my school (missing school days while waiting for the elevator to be fixed or inspected to crutch my way down 7 flights of stairs during fire drills, etc) My school is thoughtful but there are many problems you only discover when you can’t get around like other people,” said 11th grader Jack Van Ooyen who suffers from Ankylosing Spondylitis and a type of acute Juvenile Arthritis.
“While I qualified immediately for Early Intervention Services, there were not enough caseworkers and therapists available to begin my treatment right away. With language and auditory delays, you are in a race against time as the odds for remediation and being on track for school year are better if you begin before you are 3 years old. Thankfully, my family had the ability to navigate the system and the means to supplement early intervention services with private therapies, but at a significant expense that is not an option for everyone,” said Celia Katz, a student who did have access and was a beneficiary of Early Intervention and Preschool Education Services as a result of her diagnosis with Apraxia/Dyspraxia, hypotonia, and auditory processing delays.
“I am a sophomore in at Bard Queens, and I am severely disabled and medically fragile. I have therapy and awesome para assistive technology, daily feeding by g-tube. And I have a dedicated bunch of teachers and staff led by Principal Val. I am very lucky. When I am at school I am supported and included. Teaching me makes my teachers find way to improve the class for everyone. The administration changes policies to be inclusive and accommodate my needs, and they never complain. The other students pick me to be on their project team. I want IEP for students to have a school like Bard Queens because we are all entitled to support and inclusion,“ said Abey Weitzman, Bard Queens student, a beneficiary of IEP.
“Thank you to Council Member Kallos and the City Council for their leadership in pushing today’s legislation forward. Increasing accountability is an important step towards ensuring that no student with a disability is denied the services they need—and have a legal right to receive,” said Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children.
"Schools and programs like Clarke, where all of our students are deaf or hard of hearing, we know that children can only reach their full potential if they know that specialized programs like ours exist. This legislation directly benefits the families we serve and we are grateful for the leadership of Council Member Kallos and the City Council," said Meredith Berger, Director of Clarke Schools for Hearing and Speech in New York
“Thank you to Speaker Corey Johnson and Education Chair Treyger for their leadership on ensuring our city meets its mandate to provide a special education to nearly a quarter-million students with disabilities,” concluded Council Member Ben Kallos.