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Mamdani becomes latest mayor hoping to fix NYC's special education system
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published May 15, 2026
Modified May 19, 2026
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Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Elizabeth Kim
Published May 15, 2026
Modified May 19, 2026
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As he tries to solve New York City’s budget crisis, Mayor Zohran Mamdani is following in his predecessors' footsteps by vowing to rein in the practice of taxpayers covering the cost of private tuition for students with disabilities.
Under federal law, students with disabilities are entitled to a free and appropriate public education. In cases where families can prove school districts are unable to provide the necessary services, they can be reimbursed for private school tuition or providers. Mamdani said city spending on these cases, known as due process claims, is projected to rise to $1.5 billion this year.
Now, like mayors before him, Mamdani is promising to serve more of these students within the public school system.
“It is time to actually deliver them the kind of education that would mean their families don't have to consider going to a private school system to receive them,” Mamdani said Tuesday during his executive budget presentation.
That’s a goal that previous Mayor Eric Adams' administration also shared.
In 2022, then-Schools Chancellor David Banks, drew a direct link between the cost of private school tuition and a lack of money for traditional public schools.
“All this money that is meant for the kids in our public schools are going to private schools,” Banks said during a meeting with parent advisers, according to a Chalkbeat report.
“This is money that’s going out the back door every single day,” he said.
Education officials later walked back the chancellor’s comments amid criticism from parents and city councilmembers.
Adams, who has dyslexia, made improving instruction for students who have the disability a key part of his education agenda.
But last year, Liz Vladeck, the education department’s general counsel, told Gothamist the city was still getting control of a “totally broken system” for reimbursements and tightening some requirements.
Now, that system is under Mamdani’s control as costs continue to rise.
As part of his executive budget, Mamdani proposed early steps toward reforming the system through new investments in special education that he says will save the city $147 million a year by avoiding litigation from families seeking to leave the system.
Budget documents reveal the administration is seeking to spend an additional $67 million in preschool special education and adding $86 million to assist students with disabilities within the public school system. The city has failed to provide thousands of preschool children mandated services like speech therapy because of a shortage of providers.
Advocates say Mamdani’s announcement is an encouraging step, but far greater investment and policy changes are needed.
“It would require a revolution of sorts in the education system,” said Nelson Mar, an attorney at Bronx Legal Services who represents low-income families seeking services. “Because at the end of the day how we got here is because of generations of underfunding special education services.”
Mamdani is only the latest mayor to confront the question of how the country’s largest school system should provide and pay for special education. Under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, education officials sought to challenge private school reimbursement requests. His successor Bill de Blasio took the opposite approach and ordered officials to fast-track the legal process and reduce the paperwork families needed to file to keep their children enrolled in private schools.
Data shows a racial equity gap in city spending on private tuition. A recent Chalkbeat analysis found that nearly 71% of students who won private school tuition reimbursements were white even though the demographic group makes up less than 13% of students with disabilities in public schools.
Asked by a reporter whether he would “fight” families seeking private school reimbursements, Mamdani argued that his decision to spend more on special education services differed from his predecessors who had taken “exclusively a legal approach.”
“It's a hard balance,” said Ana Champeny, the vice president for research at the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog group. “Is it necessarily more adversarial? I don't have the answer to that. But I think to the extent that the city can focus on having high quality, effective, targeted special education programs in house, the stronger case they can make that the city can provide these services.”
While his budget plan directs new spending on preschool special education, it’s unclear how the mayor intends to address the needs of older children.
During the last school year, more than 7,500 students who needed speech therapy never received the service, while 5,400 students ended the school year without having ever received mandated counseling services, according to Randi Levine, a policy director for Advocates for Children.
Levine said when the city’s Department of Education has introduced new special education programs, they have been met with strong demand. She cited recent efforts to expand programs for students with autism.
“There are not enough seats in those programs right now,” she said.
This story has been updated to correct the number of students who ended the school year without receiving mandated counseling services.
Tagged
education
new york city
Elizabeth Kim
Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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