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VOICE YOUR CONCERN OVER SPECIAL EDUCATION BUSING IN STATEN ISLAND
  1. Signatures
    155 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Schools Chancellor, NYC Department of Education (+ 1 other)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Schools Chancellor, NYC Department of Education (Cathie Black)
      • Deputy Chancellor, NYC Department of Education (Kathleen Grimm)
  2. Created By
    Citywide Council on Special Education (CCSE)
    Long Island City, NY
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

On Saturday, 2/26/11 there was an article which was written in the Staten Island Advance that the City is considering the idea of reimbursing parents to take their children who are enrolled in special education to school on their own as a way of saving the majority of $800 million it spends on busing those students to school.

As you know, over the years the Citywide Council on Special Education (CCSE) has enjoyed a collaborative working relationship with both the Department of Education (DOE) and Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) as evident by the Driver/Matron training modules currently utilized throughout the City.  This article was quite a surprise and blind-sided us especially when Task Forces are currently being developed in all five (5) boroughs after consultation with both Deputy Chancellors Grimm and Rodriguez and OPT's Eric Goldstein and Matt Berlin to address the parents' concerns over special education busing.

In order to gauge where parents stood on the idea proposed by Chancellor Black, we conducted a survey which went live on Monday, 3/7/11.  This survey was directed at parents of children with IEP's attending either District 75, District 31 or a Charter School on Staten Island.  If parents found the option of transferring the accountability and management of transporting children with disabilities to parents problematic, we encouraged them to complete the short survey which we had developed.

We suspected that most parents who read this article would be outraged to hear that when the DOE can't find a solution to a problem, parents are expected to accept inaction and the resulting confusion.  What is OPT accountable for?  How is their performance measured?  What is being done to improve the system?

As a parent of a child with a disability, we encourage you to VOICE your disapproval and sign our petition now.  Please feel free to add your own comments to personalize the letter below and most importantly, forward the link to your child's classmates parents and PTA.

Thank you for your time.

 

Why People Are Signing
Recent Signatures

Special Education Busing in Staten Island

Dear Chancellor Black:

As a working parent of a student with disabilities in Staten Island, I am appalled that the DOE would attempt to transfer their accountability and management of transporting children with disabilities to the backs of parents.

In order to save approximately $800 million, you want the parents to take their children to school and follow directions for proper reimbursement procedure. While you’re at it, you might want to consider consulting the many Related Service Providers (RSA’s) that tirelessly treat our children for OT/PT/Speech… to find the time frame it takes for them to be reimbursed for their work by the City. I would have thought that a more challenging and thoughtful proposal would have been developed by the DOE and OPT. This proposal is neither practical nor feasible. I find it alarming that when the DOE can’t find a solution to a problem, parents are expected to accept inaction and the resulting confusion. What is OPT accountable for? How is their performance measured? What is being done to improve the system?

What’s even more surprising is that you have labeled this as one of many so-called "state mandates" that the City is hoping to review as part of the special education reforms. As you know, the mandates are in place to ensure students with disabilities have access to the services they need. The services come in many forms such as transportation, tutoring, speech therapy, or payments for private school tuition in cases when the student can't get the individualized education plan that is appropriate for them in the public school system.

Shockingly, this is being considered while the City is appealing a ruling in December of 2010 that ordered school bus service restored to Staten Island general education seventh and eighth graders. As you may recall, the annual savings which was received as a result of eliminating school bus service for seventh and eighth graders was more than $2.1 million. Unfortunately, the City’s decision to appeal the ruling is actually costing them more money than returning the service to the students who need it.

I urge you to remove the option of transferring the accountability and management of transporting children with disabilities to the backs of parents and encourage you to consult the team of experts to make the task of providing transportation options more transparent to the parents. I have voiced my opinion by taking the survey which was conducted by the Citywide Council on Special Education.

Please advise what steps you are taking to improve the transportation of students with disabilities as enlisting parents to do someone else’s job is no longer an option.

Very truly yours,


[Your name]

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