It's What's Best for Each Child
By Caitlin Galliker, summer 2000 intern at Advocates for Children

During my Everett Public Service Internship at Advocates for Children last summer, I worked alongside Clara Hemphill, author of Public Middle Schools, New York City's Best and The Parents Guide to New York City's Best Public Elementary Schools, on creating a dynamic new addition to Advocates for Children's Web site, publicschoolreports.org. The Web site will enable parents to learn about NYC's best elementary, middle and high schools, as well as gifted and special education programs. Clara offered me the opportunity to begin researching the best public special education programs.

Special education is an umbrella term for services directed at children with a range of disabilities, at different levels of severity, some physical, some mental, and endless combinations of both. Given the broad range and combination of disabilities, a school may be effective working with a child at one stage in his or her development but not in another. But considering the great variability, everything varies from child to child.

When I asked experts or parents who have a great deal of experience in the public special education system, "Could you please name some public special education programs you think serve their children well," most people questioned what criteria I was using. I realized more and more that there is not one set of criteria for the "best" special education programs; it's what's best for each child. This is a vital concept to understand, especially considering the changes that special education is undergoing in the public sector.

The first step in finding quality special education programs is more complicated than simply pinpointing the best general education schools. In general education, standardized reading and math scores are one way to filter out some of the weaker schools and help identify more competitive ones. However, these scores are often not useful in understanding the caliber of a special education program.

Each special needs child has a unique and changing set of needs, which should best determine which education setting is best for him or her. Each child requires individual attention and expertise. Advocates for Children has worked on behalf of families with children who have disabilities and the staff acknowledged that the public school system has a long way to go before it starts serving these children appropriately. However, I have discovered a small handful of public schools that do an overall decent job of educating and caring for each individual child, such as Brooklyn Children's School and PS 176 in Coop City. Although the system needs improvement, delivery of appropriate special needs services in the public sector is possible.

Now the Board of Education has recently created a new Contiuum model for children in need of special education services, one that complies with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. The continuum requires that special education services be provided in the least restrictive environment for each child. The Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) requires that special education students be educated with children without disabilities in the regular educational environment to the maximum extent appropriate to serve their needs. The theory is terrific, but the Board does not yet have an implementation plan. While I agree with putting every child into a classroom where he will have the greatest potential to thrive, I think that this new effort, done sloppily, will threaten children more than help them. AFC is currently working to ensure that the Board creates an effective implementation plan.

In addition, although federal and state laws mandate that every child receives services to the maximum extent appropriate for each child, in the least restrictive environment possible, Committees on Special Education in many districts continue to place children based on available space. Parents who are educated about their rights and their children's rights and the variety of services that should be available, can fight for what their children deserve.

It will take thoughtful and creative approach to deal with such a mess. I believe that by interviewing parents and experts and compiling a list of schools with good reputations for the website publicschoolreports.org is a starting point for parents and for reform. It is intended to be an interactive website, through which parents exchange information with Advocates and with each other, give feedback on programs listed and on others that should be listed. Hopefully, through the possibility for a rapid exchange of information over the Internet, while maintaining a focus on quality education, parents will have a benchmark for what is appropriate and what is not. They can at least have an idea of existing options. We hope this will put pressure on the schools and the Board of Education to keep their focus on the well being of each individual child with special needs.