Council hearing spotlights gaps in IEP services, rising due-process costs and city responses

At a City Council Committee on Education hearing, New York City Department of Education officials told council members and the public advocate that the system has improved delivery of individualized education program (IEP) services but still faces persistent shortfalls, rising legal costs from due‑process claims and staffing and capacity gaps that officials said they are addressing with new policies and hires.

The committee pressed DOE witnesses on several specific issues: enforcement of a June 1 parental notice deadline for students placed in nonpublic schools, a $1.35 billion annual bill tied to due‑process settlements and tuition payments, delays in payments to contract providers and community‑based organizations, and shortages of related‑service staff and preschool special‑education seats. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams told the committee: "It is an understatement that New York City is failing to meet the standards," and called attention to families forced to pay out of pocket or withdraw children from public schools.

DOE Deputy Chancellor Christina Foti said the city serves roughly 85,000 school‑age students with IEPs in New York City public schools and reported progress on service delivery: "Last year, 92 percent of our school aged students were fully receiving their mandated special education programs," she said, while noting work remains to reach every child. Foti and other DOE witnesses described a series of operational steps the agency has taken this year to reduce gaps and slow the growth in litigation costs, including new weekend and after‑school service sites, expanded voucher rates for special‑education teacher support services (SETS), hiring of additional staff and a new administrative review for enhanced‑rate requests.

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