Courts have the power to order New York City’s Department of Education to directly reimburse a private school for tuition for a disabled student whose parents could not afford to pay the tuition upfront, a federal judge has ruled.
Addressing a case of first impression, Southern District Judge Paul Gardephe rejected the city’s arguments that the private tuition remedy, available in situations where the city has failed to provide a free and appropriate public school education to a disabled student, applies only to parents who have the means to pay.
