Pressed by Albany, city officials say they’re removing hurdles for parents trying to get kids with special needs placed in private schools at taxpayers’ expense.
Among the reforms announced Tuesday by Mayor de Blasio are efforts to limit litigation when parents argue that their children can’t be adequately served in public schools, and instead work to reach settlements within 15 days.
The move came in response to proposed legislation in Albany that officials feared would have increased the number of cases brought and won against the city.
Currently, about 5,000 special- education students are served in private schools at a cost of roughly $ 200 million a year — but only after repeated fights with and headaches from the city, officials said.
“That might have been a good litigation strategy,” de Blasio said at City Hall in knocking the prior administration, “but it was not a humane way to run a school system.”
“If there is additional cost, it’s appropriate because we’re serving the families more fairly,” the mayor added.
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