9.05.2012 | DNA Info | Advocates who work with special needs children say the DOE’s goal of mainstreaming is admirable, but they worry that many of the city’s 1,700 schools are ill prepared to serve the broad spectrum of kids who are now enrolling, including some who need small, self-contained classes. Advocates for Children, which supports disadvantaged children in New York City, has received more than three-dozen calls this summer from parents who tried to enroll their child in their zoned school, as the DOE directed, only to be told that the school couldn’t provide the services the child needed. “The problem we’re facing is that not every zoned school can serve every zoned student,” said Randi Levine, a lawyer with Advocates for Children. “Not every school can have a small class, and not every kindergartner is ready to be in a big class.”  Read article