Advocacy groups say New York City's Department of Education is failing students with special needs.

Some parents head to court over it, but as CBS News New York's Doug Williams reports, it doesn't always end with a solution.

DOE follows court orders to fix problems less than 10% of time, advocacy group says

Harriet Baravick's son Max has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get around, but she says just this week, she's received phone calls from a DOE-contracted bus company reporting issues.

"'I'm sorry, there's no bus today. You'll have to pick your child up,'" she said. "Yesterday morning, it was, 'Sorry, the bus broke down.'"

Sometimes, she's not even sure how her son will get home from school.

Transportation is one of several services that the city's DOE is mandated to provide students with special needs in the city. Whether they go to public schools or not, it's state law.

When the system fails to do so, parents may file for an impartial hearing, which can result in a court order giving the DOE 35 days to right the wrong.

But according to the organization Advocates for Children, the DOE adheres to the court order less than 10% of the time.

"It has guaranteed that it will provide these services to the students to both the state and the federal government, and it simply does not and cannot do so," said Jesse Cole Cutler, a lawyer who estimates he's represented 3,000 families in these hearings.

Parents say they waited years for reimbursement from DOE

In addition to services like speech and occupational therapy, the DOE is sometimes mandated to pay for tuition. When a public school can't provide special ed programs that a student needs, it's on the system to pay for a private school that can.

Rebecca Shore, director of litigation for Advocates for Children, says when the DOE doesn't pay for private school, "The parent is essentially floating a loan for the DOE."

"We've had parents talk about that they've taken out a mortgage, that they've extended their credit," she added.

One parent told CBS News New York it took two years before she was finally reimbursed for tuition. Another parent said she has been waiting three years for the DOE to reimburse her for the cost of a psych evaluation for her son.

In 2023, a judge ordered the DOE to improve the situation with a series of changes, but in July 2025, an impartial court monitor found the DOE has only implemented 59% of them in two years' time.

A DOE spokesperson said in a statement, in part, "We are tremendously proud of the major steps we have taken to comply with the requirements," adding, "We are currently working on rolling out the new technology system."

The judge has ordered the DOE to appear at a court conference next week and address their noncompliance.