Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Special Education isn't very special in New York City

a recent report by Advocates for Children slams the state of special education services in New York City. among the most incredible stats was this one:

"in most years 88% of the students who receive special education services leave school without a regular high school diploma"

students of color in special education are even less likely to finish high school (Asian and white students have a graduation rate of 22%, while blacks and Latinos graduate at half that rate). 70 percent of special ed kids leave school without any kind of certificate or diploma. the bad news goes on and on. for 76 pages.

i have been trying to help a woman who has been desperately trying to get her son out of special education for 2 years. she is desperate because she knows that her kid won't be receiving the tools to succeed in life if he stays in special ed. she's afraid that he will end up so disillusioned that he will drop out and won't be able to get a good job. and this report shows that she is right. the system is really a mess. mayor bloomberg needs to make turning it around a priority.

2 comments:

EdWonk said...

I think that Bloomberg's chief priority now is a stadium (with its attendant contracts and luxury skyboxes) that your city doesn't need.

By the way, I love your site, so we will be adding it to the EduSphere, if you don't mind...

chris said...

Thanks! Of course we don't mind.

Bloomberg has been pretty obsessed with the stadium (until the plan was rejected last week). If only kids with disabilities could command as much attention as billionaire football owners.