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NEW YORK, NY October 01, 2007 —The US Supreme Court hears arguments today over whether a New York City student receiving special education services at a private school is eligible for public dollars. WNYC's Beth Fertig has more.

Special education students are entitled to go to private schools at taxpayer expense if they can't get what Congress calls a "free and appropriate public education." But Tom Freston's son never tried a public school.

Back in 1995, he enrolled him in a private kindergarten because of his learning disabilities and the city paid the bill. But when the city offered him a spot at a public school 4 years later that it considered appropriate, Freston disagreed. Freston is a former Viacom executive who his lawyer says is fighting the case on moral grounds.

But the city argues that parents should try the public schools before suing to place their children in private settings. During the last school year, the city paid $57 million for more than 3600 students with disabilities to attend private schools, half of whom never stepped foot in a public school. For WNYC, I'm Beth Fertig.