Parents say special-ed kids falling victim in charter battle

[njlib]

Special education students are falling victim to the fierce battle to find space for charter schools inside city school buildings, parents and advocates say.

At eight of the 15 buildings making room for new or expanding schools next year, at least a quarter of students are special education or seriously disabled.

For these vulnerable kids, the space crunch may mean less one-on-one instruction, therapy sessions in the back of classrooms and cramped conditions for wheelchair-bound students, nearly two dozen parents said in interviews.

"All of the therapy rooms are gone," said Lydia Bellahcene, whose daughter, Lailah, is a kindergartner with a neurological motor disorder at Public School 15 in Red Hook, Brooklyn. "She is already a year behind. ... I feel like nobody is listening."



http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/03/23/2010-03-23_parents_say_specialed_kids_falling_victim_in_battle_for_space_inside_city_school.html