Advocates, DOE spar over preschool special education and soaring due‑process costs

Lede: Advocates and parents told the Council that preschool special education seats, evaluation capacity and related services remain inadequate and that rising due‑process costs are driven in part by unmet public school placements. They asked the Council to add targeted funding to resume evaluations, expand preschool special education seats and reduce private‑placement (Carter) spending.

Nut graff: At the hearing, Deputy Chancellor Christine Moti and General Counsel Liz Vladeck answered questions about conflicting enrollment counts and the department's efforts to both expand public autism programs and curb growth in costly due‑process tuition payments. Advocates asked the city to add $70 million to create more preschool special education seats and $38 million to hire related‑service providers and expand…