Special Education

Special Ed for 12 years under Bloomberg was devastated. It was if he took a bulldozer to special education under the guise of reform. Children with special needs suffered the most.

Klein empowered principals and ignored children, emboldening incompetent principals. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, it is impermissible to recommend services based on the availability of the program or personnel, space, budget or administrative convenience. But that is what happened.

Under de Blasio and Fariña, it should be possible to reverse the damage done to thousands of children during the Bloomberg years of neglect. But there needs to be real, enforced controls on principals piling extra work on special education teachers and professionals without providing adequate time. And our students with special needs should be freed from Cuomo and Tisch’s cruel testing requirements.