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Jose P. v. Ambach, Chancellor New York City Board of EducationThe Jose P. consent decree has been in effect in New York City schools for over 20 years. The decree controls every aspect of special education services in New York City. Here is some history: In 1979, Jose P. was a recent immigrant from Puerto Rico who had learning difficulties. The Board of Education was notified of his conditions and the need for evaluation. After three months, he still had not been evaluated and a lawsuit was filed. Then, the suit was expanded to include all students awaiting special education screening and placement. A special master was appointed to create an agreement. The 47 page decree resulted in a 515 page plan (with appendices) that attempted to outline every aspect of special education. Twenty-five years later, the resulting consent decree is the largest in education, and has major impact on the New York City schools. After the decree had been in effect, the Chancellor filed a 39 page affidavit that pointed out the adverse effects Jose P. was having -- litigation and administration was taking time away from kids and programs. The decree's focus on the need to "place" students was outweighing the need to educate. His point was that he wanted flexibility. The Chancellor's concerns are still a problem today. In 1984: A commission appointed by Mayor Koch found problems similar to those in the Chancellor's affidavit, and added that a majority of children in special education were not learning disabled, but were there because of discipline problems. Mayor Koch suggested changes. When the city attempted to implement the findings, plaintiffs objected, and the judge enforced the original decree. In 1987: The Board of Education wanted to remove social workers from the three-person evaluation team mandated by the original decree. The judge would not allow it. The requirement for a social worker is not part of the IDEA, but since the parties agreed to it in the decree, it is now mandatory and cannot be changed. In 1988: The judge entered an additional 68 page order regarding hiring. In 1994: With the city in another financial crisis, Mayor Giuliani reduced the number of special education monitors. Plaintiffs objected to these cuts and the judge enforced the decree, refusing to allow the cuts. In 1994: The city asked NYU to advise it on how to reorganize and integrate special education into general education because the city believed special education was becoming a catch-all for every problem in the schools. The NYU recommendations confirmed previous studies and found that special education is not serving students well. But, none of the recommendations were implemented because they could not be done under the existing decree. In 2000: The judge issued an additional 14 page consent decree concerning tougher promotion standards. The budget for special education in New York City is $2.7 billion a year -- 25% of the entire school budget:
Source: Democracy by Decree: What Happens When Courts Run Government by
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