FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Eric Sumberg, (212) 669-3535, esumberg@comptroller.nyc.gov
Special Education Claims:
The City is required by law to provide every child with a free, appropriate public education. If parents believe their child’s schooling does not meet that standard, they may file a claim against the Department of Education (DOE) to pay for tuition and other special-education related services. If DOE wants to settle the matter without having to litigate the case to conclusion, it must seek the Comptroller’s approval.
Settlement costs related to these special-education related claims filed against the DOE, a subset of non-tort claims described in the Claims Report, grew from $131.3 million in FY 2014 to $250.8 million in FY 2015, a 91% increase.
“Every child in our City is entitled to a free, appropriate public education and the City is legally mandated to provide that. My office works diligently to ensure that every settlement is in the best interests of all parties” – Stringer said.”
In January 2014, my then 4 year old son, was diagnosed with autism by a pediatric neurologist at New York Presbyterian. The neurologist emphasized the specific window of time – from birth to age 7-8 yrs – when a child’s brain can be ‘reprogrammed’. The neurologist used the majority of the appointment to convince us that, therapies targeted to the individual and an education program with autism expertise are vital. We followed up with psychological evaluations, where professionals repeated the same opinion. In March 2014, I suddenly became a single mother: my husband was arrested on domestic violence charges. The Manhattan DA decided for me that the city was prosecuting. I was highly anxious and isolated. My family live overseas, and the Hague law prevented me from returning to my home country with my son because his father was still living here. I was getting calls from my son’s school almost daily telling me my son had had another meltdown and that his safety had been compromised (despite him having a one to one paraprofessional). The staff at the school were not proactive nor adequately trained to handle or plan for such situations. I was on edge whenever my phone rang during the school day. There was never good news – parent’s meetings were always very negative and I felt the ball was always thrown back in my court to ‘fix’ my son’s problems.
I have worked with a number of attorneys at different times in my career I can easily say that Ms. Walsh is among the most diligent, talented, and dedicated I have known. In addition, Ms. Walsh is easy to work with in that she is very clear in her requirements, helpful in resolving problems, and always aware the details I may I have missed. I have no reservations in offering her my recommendation.
Tracey is an excellent legal advocate for children with special needs and their families. She has broad knowledge of special education and disability services for children and adults with special needs.