OPINION: Caps on special education schools harm kids, families

Ellenmorris Tiegerman is founder and executive director of the School for Language and Communication Development.

During difficult economic periods, governmental agencies contract by limiting their services. This is a particularly complicated issue for agencies that provide community social services. It's sad, but the most vulnerable within our society, usually children, become victims when educational and social services are reduced.

Governmental agencies euphemistically refer to the process of special education program contraction as "capping." In 1997, the New York State Education Department began to establish program cutoffs for special education schools. Once a cap has been established by the department, the school's student enrollment is limited to that number, and the school - for all intents and purposes - is closed to additional students. That means desperate parents may be forced into accepting whatever programs and services are available, rather than what is appropriate for their child.

For parents of children with disabilities, the search to find the right program is a very difficult process. It takes months of telephone calls, site visits and applications.

So when parents finally find it and get turned away because of an enrollment cap - essentially an arbitrary number - they are left with few options and alternatives. This is particularly a problem for those minority families who are poor or don't speak English. Their ability to advocate for their children is even more limited, given the long waiting lists at many advocacy agencies.

So it is nothing short of amazing that in 2002, parents of children at the School for Language and Communication Development, SLCD, in Glen Cove, along with the school, filed suit in federal court against the New York State Education Department, arguing that the program caps violated the Individuals with Disabilities Act.

At the time, everyone thought the case would move rapidly through the court. But it turned out that the 100 families fought for eight years to keep their children at SLCD until now. In February, SLCD settled the lawsuit with the State Education Department, and all the children were allowed to remain at SLCD.

The "100" symbolize the great accomplishments in social justice that can be achieved when parents fight for what they believe. Their children now have the right to remain in the appropriate placement. If they had lost the case, their children would have suffered. How can the State Education Department justify a policy which clearly hurts children and families?

Since the case was settled and affects only those 100 families, the problem of caps remains an unresolved issue in New York State. Parents should not have to engage in legal battles for special education placements. The current process places an overwhelming and unfair burden on families. They have to fend for themselves, while the Education Department experiences neither financial expense nor personal risk, as the attorney general's office represents the agency.

Special education placement should be based solely on the individual needs of children and not on arbitrary numbers. It's time for the state to eliminate the special education cap on schools.