By Yochonon Donn

Wednesday, June 25, 2014

NEW YORK – Brochie Statfeld knows well the pain and the torturous process described at Mayor Bill de Blasio’s news conference on Tuesday unveiling a historic agreement on non-public school placements for special-needs children — she was on its raw end of the bureaucracy year after year after year, 14 in total.

So Mrs. Statfeld, a Flatbush mom of a 17-year-old autistic daughter, still has a hard time describing how she feels about the deal announced to ease the agony of parents such as her, who are unhappy with public school placements for their child and want New York City to reimburse them for private-school tuition payments.

“Besides for money and the time, it’s just emotionally draining,” she says. “Parents of special needs kids — you know, we have enough on our plate. It’s hard, it’s just hard.”

To read the rest of this article in Hamodia, click here.