11.02.2019 | NY1 | The city says it is making progress in educating students with disabilities, but advocates say it’s not fast enough. “There are still 29,000 students with disabilities in New York City who did not receive their full mandated special education instruction by the end of the year,” said Randi Levine, Policy Director, Advocates for Children.

That number was revealed by the city education department in a new report it sent to the City Council. It amounts to 15 percent of all special education students. That’s an improvement over the year before when 21 percent of special education students did not receive all required services.

But elected officials and advocates say too many children are still missing out on special classes or extra instruction that schools are legally mandated to provide them. “In over 29,000 cases, they are in violation of the law,” said Councilman Mark Treyger.

And Randi Levine, policy director at Advocates for Children, says those violations translate into significant challenges for children. “We see only 16% of students with disabilities are reading proficiently, so this is not just a question of complying with the law it’s question of improving the educational outcomes for students with disabilities,” Levine said. Li atik