07.28.2014 | New York Times | Most of the 190,000 special-education students in the city — and roughly 12,000 being educated privately at public expense — are not as severely disabled. Told of Dylan’s case, supporters of special-needs families and others said they could not understand why the city would fight it, because Dylan’s family had wanted to place him in one of a handful of private schools where the state picks up most of the tab. (Those schools serve about two-thirds of the 12,000 students.) But some said it was an example of how litigious the city had become. “Unfortunately, every day, our office hears from parents who have to fight with the D.O.E.,” said Randi Levine, policy coordinator at Advocates for Children of New York. “Too often we see a level of antagonism and resistance to helping children that can have harmful consequences.” Read article