June 12, 2012 Dennis M.

Walcott Chancellor New York City Department of Education 52 Chambers Street New York, NY 10007 Dear Chancellor Walcott, I am writing regarding the Department of Educations (DOE) special education reforms, currently piloting in 260 schools and slated for rollout in all 1,700 this September. I believe that reforms are needed to address the historically poor outcomes for students with disabilities including a distressing 30 percent high school graduation rate. But I write with deep concern that with just three months before DOE s system-wide rollout, meaningful and transparent information about reform efforts remains scarce and critical questions unanswered.

Parents, advocates, school staff and others who fundamentally support the goals of this reform have made clear to my office that they may not be able to continue do so without more substantive data and feedback from the DOE. The reality is that successful implementation of special education reforms depends in large part on the DOEs willingness to share information with parents, teachers and other stakeholders, as some evidence that the Department is using past experience to inform the future rollout. This means responding to important questions and issues raised in advance of the rollout, pertaining to training and preparation of staff at the school level, funding issues, and resources and road maps for parents. Key among these questions: How will the DOE assess and ensure that schools are prioritizing and honoring the needs of students with Individualized Education Programs (IEP), given capacity challenges and funding structures that potentially create incentives for them to do otherwise? It also means providing basic information about both the results and experiences of schools participating in the pilot of these reforms, known as Phase 1 schools. To my knowledge, to date the DOE has primarily touted two basic data points with respect to pilot schools: (1) that the Phase 1 schools have shown greater decreases in initial referral rates of students for special education services and; (2) greater increases in recommendations to Less Restrictive Environments (LRE) when compared with non-pilot schools. It is my understanding that in a more limited way, the DOE has shared its finding that Phase 1 and comparison schools

saw no significant difference in either student attendance rates or scores on State Math and English Language Arts (ELA) exams. This data, while important, does not offer students, parents and staff in non-pilot schools meaningful insight into whether or how current instructional practices are working, or a coherent picture of what to expect this September. Beyond the limited hard data that the DOE has provided thus far, these stakeholders could undoubtedly benefit from understanding what challenges and important lessons principals, teachers and parents in Phase 1 schools have learned, so they dont have to navigate the implementation process in a silo and reinvent the wheel. In the meantime, stakeholders also confront the reality of an unexpected and significant transition in leadership in the DOEs Division of Students with Disabilities: in mid-April, both Laura Rodriguez and Lauren Katzman the Deputy Chancellor and Executive Director of Special Education, respectively announced they would leave their posts. The change has fueled a heightened state of uncertainty and anxiety among parents, advocates, school staff and others. Many who are otherwise inclined to agree with the goals of this reform fear that despite the DOEs best intentions, the Department currently lacks the capacity it needs to manage this roll-out successfully.

As the DOE continues to work to build public support for its special education reforms, it must be transparent and forthcoming about the early results of a program that will impact every single child in the New York City public school system. Therefore, I request the following information: For Phase 1 Schools: A detailed list outlining the full range of specific data points that the DOE collected for all Phase 1 schools beyond the four points listed earlier in this letter since the inception of the special education pilot program; All findings associated with these additional data points; A listing of the types of ongoing training that staff at Phase 1 schools citywide have received broken down by school, and: o The number of staff at each school that received training; o The frequency with which they have received training; o What impact the trainings have had; and o What plans are in place to train remaining staff. The results of any evaluation conducted by the DOE assessing: o Principals and school staffs experience of the reforms; o Parents and guardians experience of the reforms; The results of any evaluation conducted by the DOE assessing the impact of the reform on incidences of: o Bullying in schools; o Suspensions in schools; o Removal of students with special needs from school for hospital emergency room based psychiatric evaluations.

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For Non-Phase 1 Schools: The number of training sessions pertaining to the reforms that each Children First Network (CFN) citywide has provided for each school it supports; The number of school staff members at each school citywide who have participated in such trainings provided by the CFNs, broken down by position type (i.e., teacher, social worker, paraprofessional, etc.); The number of teachers citywide who have participated in training sessions pertaining to the reforms offered by Teachers College; The results of any formal, centralized citywide survey and/or assessment(s) conducted by the DOE designed to assess: o Principals and school staffs knowledge about/understanding of the reforms; o Parents and guardians knowledge about/understanding of the reforms; Finally, I would appreciate the DOE providing information about the following: Any projected impact the DOE expects to see on the Office of Pupil Transportation budget; Any adjustments planned or being made to school progress reports and/or other accountability measures, to ensure equity between district and charter schools the latter of which are exempt from participating in the reforms.

I applaud the goals of this reform and respect the enormity of the task in rolling it out. By providing the public with meaningful, transparent information and data, and answering the many outstanding questions posed by the ARISE coalition and the Citywide Council on Special Education, the DOE will move itself much closer to successful implementation. Sincerely,

Scott M. Stringer Manhattan Borough President