New York City parents who missed a rarely enforced deadline to apply for their children’s special education services can now receive those services, but only if they agree not to sue the Education Department.
The requirement affects about 3,500 families whose children attend private or religious schools or are home-schooled and receive resources such as teacher aides who attend class with them, speech therapy and occupational therapy.
About 17,000 families successfully filed to participate in the system this year by the June 1 deadline, which had not been enforced in previous years. The families who missed the cutoff were left in limbo.
Because they missed the deadline, their children have not gotten the services so far this school year. The waiver, which the Education Department sent to affected parents on Thursday, would provide the families expedited services in about three days, said Nicole Brownstein, a spokeswoman for the city Education Department.
But one lawyer who specializes in education issues described the waiver as “highly problematic” because of its vague wording, and another said such a pre-emptive move was extremely unusual. City Council members learned about the new waiver program during a briefing on Thursday.
“I think it’s outrageous,” said Councilman Keith Powers, who attended the meeting with the Education Department. He added, “It feels wrong, and the whole process has been a mess from the very beginning.”
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