Officials from New York City's Department of Education appeared in front of a federal court judge Thursday.

They defended improvements they say they've made in providing special education services to students who need them, but those students weren't the focus in court.

What the problem is

Some city families say they are struggling to get their kids with special needs or disabilities the services they don't just need in school, but are legally entitled to.

When they don't, parents can get them through a court order, but according to data released in March by the organization Advocates for Children, the DOE adhered to those court orders less than 10% of the time.

Even when the DOE does adhere to the court orders, sometimes, like in Apallah Simpkins' case, "winning" means waiting for families. Simpkins said it took two years for her to be reimbursed for services she had to pay for out of pocket.

"Even if you win, it's still like you didn't win because it's still like a big struggle to get everything done, to get the services, to get the providers paid," Simpkins said.

Advocates call for enforcement of DOE compliance

On Thursday, two parties were in court: the plaintiffs, who are represented by Advocates for Children, and the DOE's legal team.

The plaintiffs proposed a motion to install somebody who could enforce DOE compliance, not just monitor it.

The judge gave the DOE until December to make more improvements before she rules on it.

"The judge made clear that we would be able to raise that motion at that point," said Rebecca Shore, director of litigation for Advocates for Children.

Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom, but CBS News New York education reporter Doug Williams sat in on Thursday's conference, which was heated at times.

The DOE says outdated numbers don't reflect its progress, but it has internal data that does.

The plaintiffs, meanwhile, say they don't have access to that data and are going off of what independent monitors give them.

DOE blames "desperate shortage of employees"

Progress continued to be the focus of the DOE in front of the judge.

It took roughly an hour and a half for the DOE's lead attorney, Liz Vladeck, to acknowledge the problem and the reason progress is needed in the first place.

"We want to get every student what they need," Vladeck said, eventually adding, "We have a desperate shortage of employees."

"It was at that point that they really did not have much of an argument, except to say that there are issues within their system," Shore said.

"We're working as fast as we can and as hard as we can to make sure that every family is getting the attention they need," Vladeck said.