Speeches

Statement of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum on Department of Education’s Announcement of Special Ed Survey Findings
 
I am troubled by the results of the Department of Education’s special education survey. The DOE’s findings are not consistent with the information I have received from sources familiar with the system. I find it particularly hard to believe that only 636 students still require an evaluation for special education more than sixty days after an initial request.
 
Moreover, the DOE’s announcement raises a number of questions that demand immediate answers. First and foremost, how did it arrive at the numbers in its findings? Does the DOE’s plan to outsource data entry call for another costly no-bid contract? Will the records of our special needs children be kept on another continent? What will its proposed “Web-based system” for special ed placements entail? Until these questions are resolved, I will continue to observe the reforms to special education with skepticism.

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