Contact: Colleen Roche/Samantha I. Lugo (212) 788-2958
"We promised to transform special education and thanks to the excellent work of the task force I appointed a year ago, led by Chancellor Crew, Peter Powers and Corporation Counsel Michael Hess, we have already accomplished substantial changes," Mayor Giuliani said. "Referrals of students to special education have already decreased almost 25% compared to the same time last year, which means that thousands of students who would have been unnecessarily relegated to special education have been able to remain in general education classes. And at the same time, the number of students moved from special education back to general education has gone up more than 16% this school year. Savings from this initiative will be reinvested in providing the kinds of specialized educational services that enable even more children with special needs to stay, and thrive, in general education classes.
"This is just the beginning. These kinds of improvements in special education will continue to transform the way in which we view and provide our children with special needs and benefit the quality of life of all students," the Mayor concluded.
The reform also improved the timeliness of special education evaluations and succeeded in transferring the evaluation and placement process to high schools and community school districts.
A major component of the special education reform effort identified by the task force was the need to build the capacity of schools to provide effective intervention and prevention services in general education for students experiencing academic and behavioral difficulties.
Under Chancellor Crew's leadership, schools have developed procedures to identify students "at risk" of referral to special education and have implemented promising programs and support services in general education.
Another key strategy in reforming special education identified by the Mayor's Task Force was the transfer of responsibility for the provision of evaluation services to Community School District and High School Superintendents to strengthen accountability of evaluation staff and develop clear lines of authority in districts and schools. On June 17, 1998 the Board of Education approved the transfer of clinical services and the change in governance was implemented in September 1998. This reorganization aligns clinical and instructional services under the Principals and Superintendents and provides districts with the ability to direct these valuable resources to address student needs and foster improved services to students.
Chancellor Crew said, " I too am extremely pleased with the efforts of this task force and the extraordinary work of its members and staffs. But more importantly, I am proud of the fact that increasing numbers of our children are receiving the benefits of general education and are receiving the services they need without carrying the label of being a special education student.
"There remains a great deal to be done in terms of bolstering the quality of instruction provided in special education and in further reducing the referral numbers. But I am pleased that we are moving in the right direction, to a performance-based system built on accountability and paramount concern for children," the Chancellor concluded.
Task Force member Peter Powers said, "I am pleased to see that the Board of Education has made a good start in implementing the Task force's recommendations. I am specially gratified to see that the reforms that we recommended have given thousands of students an opportunity to achieve their goals within general education, giving them the greatest chance to succeed."