New York governor vetoes state legislation on placement of special

New York governor vetoes state legislation on placement of special education students

The New York Times reports that Governor Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bill on Tuesday requiring public school officials to take into account the ?home life and family background? of special education students when placing them in schools, a measure that would have given religious parents more power to demand that the public pay for private education. In his letter announcing his veto decision, Cuomo said the bill would have created ?an overly broad and ambiguous mandate? to send more students to private schools, burdening taxpayers with ?incalculable significant additional costs.?

The bill?s chief sponsor in the State Assembly, Helene Weinstein of Brooklyn, issued a statement vowing to ?continue the fight,? suggesting she would try to muster the two-thirds majority required to override the veto. The bill passed the Democratic-led Assembly with 93 votes, just 7 short of that threshold, and sailed through with more than two-thirds of the vote in the Republican-controlled Senate. Supporters said the veto would disappoint thousands of families whose children would be better equipped to learn in surroundings compatible with their families? practices and values, like Orthodox Jewish children who are not used to secular settings.

James Cultrara, Education Director for the New York State Catholic Conference, said that if the veto was not overridden, supporters would push for a new version of the bill, perhaps drawn more narrowly to win over some opponents. ?We will work with everyone involved to craft it in a way that?s acceptable,? Mr. Cultrara said. But he added that he would have preferred the governor to approve the bill and then clarify it through corrections in the next session, rather than start the process over, disappointing some families who had hoped for new placements in the coming school year.

Courts have expanded parents? rights to demand that school districts pay for private special education if public schools cannot meet a student?s needs. The bill would have expanded the definition of needs to include compatibility with the student?s home life, wording that opponents said could cover religious practices as well as food and clothing preferences.

According to Cuomo, ?[t]his bill unfairly places the burden on taxpayers to support the provision of a private education.? New York City now spends more than $100 million a year on private schooling for about 5,000 special education students. In a statement, Mayor Bloomberg said the bill would have constituted a new unfunded mandate for school districts across the state. ?With his veto,? Mr. Bloomberg said, ?Governor Cuomo has once again shown his commitment to fiscal responsibility and to protecting both the city and state from unsustainable financial burdens.?

Source: The New York Times, 7/31/12, By Anne Barnard

[Editor's Note: At the request of the New York State School Boards Association, NSBA sent a letter to Governor Cuomo on July 25, 2012, strongly recommending that he veto the legislation. NSBA's letter identified specific parts of the legislation that appear to conflict directly with school districts' existing obligations under federal special education laws, strip school districts of certain contracting rights, and expose school districts and parents to increased financial liabilities and potential litigation.

In July 2012, Legal Clips summarized a?story on lohud.com, which reported?that Governor Cuomo was preparing to make a decision on a groundbreaking special education law change, which amends current state special education law and would require public schools to consider cultural influences like family environment when placing special needs children in programs.]

Tags: free appropriate public education, New York, private placement, Religion, school funding, school policies, Special Education & Disabilities

Source: http://legalclips.nsba.org/?p=15660

jim mora the weeknd echoes of silence gio gonzalez san francisco fire patti labelle the weeknd the weeknd