Letters to the Editor

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The New York Sun
NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

‘The Court Shirks’

As the parent of a 4-year-old child with serious developmental disabilities, I found your editorial about special education to be insensitive to reality and wrong-headed [“The Court Shirks,”October11,2007].

The City of New York wants children to first enroll and perform dismally at public schools before they will consider an appropriate private school placement — even when it can be predicted from the outset that the public school placement is inappropriate. We do not get married first and then assess the relationship after the first year; we vet potential partners in advance.

There is no reason why the appropriateness of a school placement cannot be considered in advance rather than setting up children to fail first.

The process is simple: Evaluate the child’s needs, determine whether any school in the system can meet those needs, and if there isn’t one, look to a private school. If there’s a disagreement between the school system and the parents, a hearing can be held and an appeals process can be pursued.

Consider the case of my son: He requires constant stimulation by trained therapists to help him overcome his disabilities. Sending him to an inappropriate school just to see what will happen would create irreversible setbacks in his development. The City’s policy of requiring parents to pay for appropriate private schools and then to sue the City to try to recover the money years later raises an unfair barrier for all — one which is particularly insurmountable to children from less affluent families.

The New York City Department of Education is notorious among parents of special needs children for its bureaucratic sluggishness and intransigence. For shame. The Second Circuit got it right, and bravo to the Supreme Court for leaving that decision undisturbed.

ROBERT TOLCHIN
Brooklyn, N.Y.


Please address letters intended for publication to the Editor of The New York Sun. Letters may be sent by e-mail to editor@nysun.com, by facsimile to 212-608-7348, or post to 105 Chambers Street, New York City 10007. Please include a return address and daytime telephone number. Letters may be edited.

NY Sun
NEW YORK SUN CONTRIBUTOR

This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.


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