Yeah, Not a Surprise

It appears that the New York State Education Department has finally taking action against special education fraud, and Orthodox yeshivas' strong opposition to reform.

Call me a cynic, but my guess is that said yeshivas were gaming the system to get undeserved state support:

In an effort to combat fraud, the New York State Education Department yesterday adopted a new rule that will change how special education funding is distributed for services to students who attend New York City’s non-public schools, including yeshivas.

The change comes after a 2022 New York Times report that found New York City was paying over $350 million a year “to private companies that provide services in Hasidic and Orthodox schools.” Since proposing the change in May, NYSED officials have worked to allay fears that the rule would not just punish fraudsters, but also make it harder for people who genuinely need special services to access them.

At their meeting on Monday, NYSED’s governing body, the Board of Regents, adopted the change as an emergency rule which will go into immediate effect before the start of the school year.

The subhead of the Times story pretty much says it all, "New York has paid companies millions of dollars to help children with disabilities in religious schools. But the services are not always needed or even provided."

That's a nice way of saying, "Fraud."

………

The rule targets a special education service called “special education teacher support services,” known as SETSS, which is similar to tutoring and only offered in New York City. According to the 2022 Times report, about 80% of requests for such services came from Orthodox districts in the prior year. The service, which is often one-to-one and takes place outside the classroom, is ill-defined and thus vulnerable to fraud, according to the Times.

The city is willing to pay up to $125 per hour for this service, but many tutors charge more than that, forcing parents who want to hire them to go through the complaint process that NYSED now seeks to limit.

According to Lloyd Donders, a lawyer who represents parents in such cases, the standard rate for the service is $42, but since “you can’t actually get someone at that rate,” the city has an “enhanced” rate of $125. “I don’t think the DOE puts up a fight unless you ask them for more than $125,” Donders told Shtetl.

At a public meeting on Monday, NYSED Commissioner Betty Rosa said too many people are profiting from rates that go far beyond $125 an hour.

I'm thinking that some private schools might have arrangements with the tutors.

It may not be something as blatant as kickbacks, it might be a way for schools to supplement salaries of their employees for state money, but I would not rule out the former.