January 7, 2005
Hundreds May Lose Tuition Aid Under Ruling
By ELISSA GOOTMAN, NY TIMES

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Hundreds of special education students who attend private school at New York City's expense could lose city financing, at least temporarily, under a ruling this week by a Federal District Court judge in Manhattan.

The ruling, by Judge George B. Daniels, held that the City Department of Education did not have to reimburse the parents of a special education student who had never spent time in public school.

The city spent $12 million on such students in 2002-3, the most recent school year for which data is available.

The ruling held that federal law "ensures that a parent's rejection of a public school placement is not based on mere speculation" that the public school system is inadequate.

The number of special education children seeking reimbursement for private school tuition on the grounds that the public schools cannot meet their needs has climbed, to 1,956 in the last school year from 600 in the 1997-98 school year. Most requests are approved by independent hearing officers.

In the 2002-3 school year, the Department of Education spent a total of $24 million on private school tuition for special education students. In half of the cases, the department said, the children had never spent any time in the public school system. Those are the kinds of cases the judge's ruling could affect.

The Education Department praised the ruling, issued on Monday. Its general counsel, Michael Best, said in a statement, "We believe this is a sound decision and are pleased that the court agreed with our view." He refused to comment further for the record.

The student's lawyer, Neal H. Rosenberg, said he hoped to appeal the ruling.

In general, the students who seek private school reimbursement are not the city's poorest; they usually have to have enough money to pay the tuition bill while awaiting reimbursement, and it helps to hire a lawyer to navigate the hearing process.

But Kim Sweet, the associate general counsel for New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, said that the ruling could harm children. "The practical implication is that a 5-year-old child with special needs may have to spend a valuable year in a program that obviously doesn't meet his needs and may even set him back, before he can go to a program that works for him," she said.

Eva S. Moskowitz, chairwoman of the City Council Education Committee, agreed, saying she feared that the ruling could pose another obstacle for special education parents. "If the Department of Education has some secret plan that they haven't told us about how to open up a whole new set of schools to service their needs, mazel tov, that's great," Ms. Moskowitz said. "But if the motive here is simply to save $12 million and not provide the education, D.O.E. is in violation of federal law."

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No "Special" Bucks For Private Schools
Jan 7, 2005

A federal judge says New York City does not have to pay for special education students who go to private schools. City Education officials say the ruling could save the city about $12 million a year.

The city is responsible for providing an education to every student, even if the student needs a special school because of a disability. However the court ruled that students who never attended public schools, are not entitled to have the city pay for private special ed.