New special education policies vs. failed special education policies by Jaye Bea Smalley
There are City Council hearings on the DOE’s new special education initiative tomorrow, Tuesday, June 12, starting at 1 PM at 250 Broadway. The DOE is intent on pushing through this initiative despite the fact that their own power point [see slide 13] shows no gain in attendance or achievementfor students with disabilities who were moved into general education classrooms in Phase I of the initiative. Moreover, the DOE special education reference guide provided to principals tells them they must enroll any students suitable for inclusion in regular general education classrooms until the class size hits the contractual maximum of 25 in Kindergarten, 32 in grades 1-5, and 30 or 33 in middle school (depending on whether the school gets Title one funding.)
This is the first time I have seen DOE openly mandating maximum class sizes in any grade since 1990, when the first state class size reduction program began; defying both state-mandated Contracts for Excellence goals