New York City pursues overhaul of its special education program

FromThe New York Times: New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's administration, struggling to address the needs of a growing number of students with learning disabilities, is overhauling special education by asking every principal to take in more of the students and giving them greater flexibility in deciding how to teach them. This fall, more than 250 schools will be asked to accept more students with disabilities rather than send them to schools that have specific programs for special education, as has been the case for decades. By September 2011, principals at each of the system’s 1,500 schools will be expected to enroll all but the most severely disabled students. FEBRUARY 2010...from The New York Daily News: New York Cityis promising that the "vast majority" of schools will be able to educate students with disabilities by the beginning of the 2011-12 school year. Special-education advocates have long complained that too many schools cannot properly serve students with disabilities. As a result, about 13 percent of special education students go to schools devoted only to students with disabilities, even when those disabilities are not terribly severe.