Review of Special Needs Schools Worries Advocates, Parents

As a review of New York City special education schools moves forward, parents and special education advocates are watching warily for the NYC Department of Education’s next move in what has often been a rocky relationship.

In January, the NYC DOE commissioned a review of District 75, the city’s special needs education district. The move has worried many affected parents, some of whom believe that the DOE has a history of not affording special needs education priority in the school system.

The national Council on Great City Schools is currently conducting studies with the goal of issuing a report to the DOE in March, with recommendations for improvement. The CGCS has conducted reviews in other NYC districts, said Mabe Gonzalez of the NYC DOE’s press office.

In the course of the review, CGCS has been observing District 75 schools, which serve approximately 23,000 students with moderate to severe special needs, and interviewing a variety of involved parties. Gonzalez said that the studies are looking into “all the components—the principals, the teachers. They’re going to classes.”

The studies funded by the review were prompted partly by the appointment of NYC DOE deputy chancellor for teaching and learning Marcia V. Lyles, who Gonzales said “is... looking for ways to improve services.” The timing is also tied to money awarded to the NYC DOE in September 2007 through the Broad Prize for Urban Education. “They’re paying for this,” Gonzalez said. “It’s just a great opportunity to hear from an independent consultant.”

Many parents worry about the future of District 75, citing attempts made by several past chancellors to close District 75 and assign the special needs students to other schools. Concerns about the outcome of the review, including fears of budget cuts or school closings, seem to have stemmed largely from what some view as a lack of transparency. The DOE does not issue press releases or announcements about studies commissioned, and any specific improvement goals of the review have not been made public.

Principal Barry Daub of the Mickey Mantle School, a special education school on West End Avenue, said that he had not been contacted by the CGCS and knew little about the review underway. “I know that they’re doing a study,” he said. “That’s about it.”

Gonzalez said that although the budget cuts issued across the department do affect District 75, further cuts are not expected to result from the CGCS report. Of the cuts that have been made, she said, “the school should be able to absorb the costs without affecting services to students.”

According to Gonzalez, the DOE expects to receive the results of the CGCS review in March. “We are looking forward to hearing what their recommendations are,” she said.

alicia.outing@columbiaspectator.com