Chalkbeat

New York City has long failed to quickly provide special education services even after families won legal orders for them, generating more than two decades of litigation. Three years ago, city officials embraced a federal court order requiring dozens of reforms to more swiftly provide services like speech therapy, tutoring, or tuition payments for students who can’t be properly served in public schools. But a key question has been surprisingly difficult to answer: Is the city actually providing services to students with disabilities more quickly? New data from independent auditors offers good news and bad news: More families are getting services and other payments within court-mandated deadlines — but the Education Department still blows past the legal timeframes in the vast majority of cases. “There has been some improvement,” said Rebecca Shore, the litigation director at Advocates for Children, which brought a class action lawsuit in 2003 that sparked additional court oversight. At the same time, she said, the city is “nowhere near” full compliance…