Teacher union fights special education loan bill for NYC private schools
The powerful teachers’ union — currently fighting charter school expansion in Albany — is waging a new war against yeshivas and other private schools that receive millions in public funds to serve students with disabilities, The Post has learned.
The United Federation of Teachers opposes 💙City Council legislation tﷺhat would offer up to two-year, interest-free loans to independent schools and programs, which must be repaid when delayed tuition reimbursement is delivered by the city Department of Education.
The bill, introduced by Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan, is aimed at helping yeshivas, other private schools and parents who complain about long dela✨ys in getting tuition repayments from the 😼DOE. ;
Brannan’s bill is supported by the Orthodox Union, the major advocacy group for Jewish schools.
That puts council members, who are running for re-election in a redistricting year, in a spot where they prefer not to be — having to decide between yeshivas and parents of students with special needs and the teachers’ union, the defender of traditional public schools.
The UFT, in a strongly worded memo of oppo💞sition, said Council members should prod the DOE to do a better job of paying its vendors🍌 instead of creating another layer of bureaucracy.
“On its face, the bill is unnecessary and irrational. Rather than fix the systems by which DOE pays its vendors, the bill carves out a particular group of vendors, and requires DOE to pay them with one hand then collect the same money back as a loan repayment with the other,” the UFT said.
“DOE should fix its processes rather than add yet another program to its administrative pile.”
A group representing Jewish day schools and yeshi🎃vas said the UFT opposition is misplaced.
“Some who oppose this game-changing bill either don’t have a clue how it works, or don’t understand the nightmarish situation families with special needs face in the City’s school system. Or both,” said Sydney Altfield, executive director of Teach NYS.
“Telling a bureaucracy to simply ‘hurry up’ is not a solution. At no extra cost to taxpayers, Councilmember Brannan’s bill is a lifeline for parents who can’t afford to pay thousands of dollars to finance an education the City is required to provide,” Altfield added.
Federal law requires that the government cover the cost of private tuition if public schools cannot meet needs of students with learning or ph💙ysical disabilitiꦜes, such as dyslexia or speech impediments.
The city and other school districts have been socked with lawsuits from parents accusing them of failing🅘 to provide mandated services for students ♍with mental and physical deficits.
The funding and placement of🐽 special needs students have been vexing issues for decades.
This past August, Schools Chancellor Davꦦid Banks expressed frustration with the costs of the program.
“All this money that🐲 is meant for the kids in our public schools are going to private schools,” he said during a regularly scheduled meeting of his parent advisory council🌺. “Folks have figured out how to game this system.”
Brannan, the bill’s sponsor, noted that even the union admits the current delays in payment to privately-run special education providers are unacceptable.
“I agree with the UFT in that the status quo is indefensible and I look forward to working with them to finally fix the longstanding problems at DOE when it comes to timely payment,” he said. “In the meantime, we need to do something to provide relief for families in the here and now and my bill would do that.”
The 44-year-old Bay Ridge Democrat declined to say whether he would seek the UFT’s endorsement for re-election later this year.
Mayor Eric Adams’ office would not take a position on Brannan’s bill, but said it was working with the DOE and the City Council to improve education and service for students with disabilities. The mayor has talked about struggling with dyslexia as a child.
“This administration is laser-focused on ensuring that our schools can meet all our students’ needs. This year, we stabilized over 6,000 special education preschool seats and added 600 new seats, conducted dyslexia assessments for all kids in our school system, and expanded programming for students with autism,” a City Hall spokesperson said.
“We appreciate the council member’s interest in this critical DOE priority and we welcome the chance to collaborate with him on our efforts in this area, especially given the more than $1 billion in costs to the city. We also look forward to discussing these priorities with all our partners on the City Council as we continue to move the needle forward in a fiscally responsible manner.”
The debateꦛ over special education comes weeks after city officials with 20 companies providing services in private schools, primarily yeshivas, amid concerns about fraud.
