New York, NY —
A federal judge has approved a class action settlement between the city and attorneys for disabled pre-K students. The children had been on waiting lists to get into pre-kindergarten classes. Many of them have autism or physical disabilities.
REPORTER: Attorney Ilann Maazel represented the families.
MAAZEL: The defendants were claiming throughout this case that there was simply not enough availability. But lack of availability is not a legal defense. The city and state receive a great amount of money from the federal government to serve children and they're required under the law to serve them.
REPORTER: Maazel estimates that hundreds of kids will be affected by the settlement, which requires the Education Department to monitor any classroom openings. But, the department says it already does this and that only 3% of disabled pre-K students were waiting longer than they should have for services.