What's happening
This bill creates an Office of Special Education Services within the New York Department of Education to oversee programs for children with disabilities.
Why it matters
Centralizes oversight. By creating a dedicated Office of Special Education Services within the Department of Education, the bill aims to consolidate responsibility for programs serving children with disabilities, potentially leading to more consistent and specialized oversight.
Elevates leadership. The office will be led by an assistant commissioner appointed by the Board of Regents, signaling a higher level of authority and potentially greater influence over policy and resource allocation for special education.
Expands administrative capacity. The legislation mandates a minimum staff structure—including three division directors and three bureau chiefs—which could improve the office’s ability to manage, implement, and monitor special education programs across the state.
Direct line of accountability. The assistant commissioner will report directly to the commissioner of education, establishing clearer accountability and possibly enabling faster responses to issues affecting students with disabilities.
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Create Special Education Office
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to education
- Referred to education
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
3454
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 29, 2019
Introduced by M. of A. PRETLOW -- read once and referred to the Committee on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to providing for an office of special education services to administer programs for children with disabilities
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 4411 to read as follows:
§ 4411. Office of special education services. 1. There is hereby created in the department an office of special education services. The head of the office shall be an assistant commissioner who shall be appointed by the board of regents and who shall hold office at the pleasure of the board of regents.
2. The office of special education services shall be the principal agency for administering and conveying the provisions of this article relating to programs and activities for the education of children with disabilities.
3. The assistant commissioner appointed pursuant to this section shall direct the work of the office and shall be the chief executive officer of the office reporting directly to the commissioner. Such assistant commissioner may appoint such officers and employees as he or she may deem necessary, prescribe their duties, fix their compensation, and provide for the reimbursement of their expenses, all within amounts made available therefor by state and federal appropriations; provided that there shall be not less than six officers consisting of three division directors and three bureau chiefs to assist the assistant commissioner.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the first of July next succeeding the date on which it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04338-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.