Comptroller Hits DOE Monitoring Of Special Ed.

By MEREDITH KOLODNER

An audit by the City Comptroller's Office slammed the Department of Education last week for not effectively tracking or monitoring special education services, but DOE officials hit back, asserting the audit was filled with "errors and misunderstandings."

WILLIAM C. THOMPSON: 'A lack of coordination.'

The audit found that many students didn't receive services when Teachers were absent and that records were often incomplete or inaccurate. DOE officials wrote a strongly-worded 10-page response, outlining problems in the audit's methodology and its failure to include information from one of DOE's central databases. United Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten said that the audit reflected Teachers' experiences.

'Systematic Problems'

"The Comptroller's audit demonstrates what educators of special needs children have complained about for years," she said: "namely the school system's refusal to acknowledge systemic problems and insistence on dealing with special education concerns on a case-by-case basis."

RANDI WEINGARTEN: Gaps in special ed.

The audit looked at records from 89 mainstreamed special education students. It criticized the DOE's lack of written policies on how to monitor the children, its incomplete attendance records and inconsistencies between databases designed to let educators know what services students should receive. It noted that there were inconsistencies between the two sets of records for 108 of 793 mandated services.

The report also criticized the fact that schools were not mandated to provide make-up sessions when providers were absent. For example, it cited 32 students for whom providers recorded 72 instances of services being given, even though those students were marked absent.

'State of Dysfunction'

"Kids aren't going to go home and tell their parents they did not receive a mandated service on any given day," said Ms. Weingarten, "and children and parents should not be responsible for notifying the system about missed services."

Mr. Thompson summarized the findings by declaring that, "The Department of Education's special education system is in a state of dysfunction."

But DOE officials took exception to the conclusions and the way in which the audit was performed. They argued that the sample of 89 cases fell short of any significant sample size, since there were more than 19,000 students with disabilities receiving services in the three districts the Comptroller's Office reviewed. And they asserted that the staffers who performed the audit were not aware of how the data and tracking system worked.

"For instance, in determining whether records exist for services provided to students two years ago," stated DOE spokeswoman Lindsay Harr in an e-mail, "the Comptroller failed to search a relevant database, leading him to conclude that only 44 percent of the records could be found. The Department reviewed the same student sample and found 83 percent of the records."

Some Data Obsolete

DOE officials also noted that the audit used two-year old data, and cited recent improvements, such as more children in inclusive settings and higher test scores. They did acknowledge that one of their database systems was antiquated and needed to be replaced, which they said they were working on.

But Ms. Weingarten argued the delay was an example of the overall problem. "It's been over a year since school officials were supposed to issue a request for proposals to have a private contractor establish an adequate data collection and monitoring system," she said, "and we've heard nothing about progress in designing one. Until the city does so, you're going to continue to have a problem."

DOE officials said they were already in the process of implementing most of the recommendations, and asserted that most of the others were based on inaccurate data. But the Comptroller's office did not back down. "Comments concerning our methodology are erroneous," said Mr. Thompson, "and appear to be DOE's attempt to divert attention from the fact that there is a fundamental lack of coordination and communication within DOE."