NYC Continues Sending Special Ed Students to School with Controversial Treatments

New York City continued to send dozens of children with serious disabilities to a private school that uses electric shocks and mechanical restraints, even though some cases violated New York state law requiring court approval.

Annie Waldman is a reporting fellow at ProPublica, which broke the story. She reports the city spends $30 million a year for children to attend the Judge Rotenberg Center in Massachusetts.

"Judge Rotenberg Center actually has more New York City students than any other school out of state," she said. "And in fact 121 of their 137 students are from New York City."

This year alone, she said 29 city children enrolled.

ProPublica discovered the school was investigated a few times by the state and is still being monitored – which is why the school is still on an approved list. Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration also made it easier for families to enroll children with disabilities in private schools at taxpayer expense by taking a less litigious stand than the previous administration.

The center has defended its controversial treatments as necessary in certain situations. ProPublica found students at the center who get electric shocks with court approval, but it also found cases when New York State determined mechanical restraints were used without approval.

Read the full report here.