Releases & Statements

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE March 15, 2007
Contact: John Collins, Press Secretary
(212) 669-4193; (917) 496-4587
Release #: 006-2007

Gotbaum Releases Report on City’s Unresponsiveness to Parents of Children with Disabilities

DOE fails to respond to more than half of requests for help by investigators

MANHATTAN – The City is failing to provide basic information to parents of special education students - and ignoring phone calls asking for help - a new report from Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum reveals. The report, Waiting for Help, shows that the Committees on Special Education (CSE), the Department of Education (DOE) entities responsible for processing and maintaining special education cases, and parent coordinators failed to respond to more than half of nearly 400 requests for assistance by Public Advocate investigators. Response rates were especially low for non-English inquiries.

Public Advocate Gotbaum called for the City to help families by improving responsiveness and access for non-English speakers, saying, "When their children are having problems at school, parents want help, not the run-around. By not returning phone calls, the City is failing parents. The Department of Education must work to help parents and students instead of leaving families in the dark."

Investigators in the Public Advocate’s office posed as parents and called all of the CSEs and satellite offices as well as 300 of the 1,200 parent coordinators. Investigators were instructed to inquire about basic special education services and procedures, and then document how often they were able to reach the appropriate party: