The aim of the special education reform--being rolled out in all schools this year--is to educate special needs children in the least restrictive settings possible, and, preferably, in their neighborhood schools.

Is that what's actually happening? Not in all schools, according to Advocates for Children. Before school started, the group heard from 40 parents of incoming kindergarten students with disabilities whose zoned schools could not provide the type of class or services that the child needed. According to a statement issued by Advocates for Children, some schools are just not ready to accommodate all special needs students.

The first day of school is too soon to tell whether those 40 students and others actually will get the services they need, said Maggie Moroff, a special ed expert at Advocates for Children and head of the ARISE Coalition. But, she said, "we are cautioning families to make sure what they agreed upon in their IEP [Individualized Education Plans] meetings last spring is not being changed to reflect what the school has to offer but to reflect what the student needs."

Advocates posted guidelines for parents to help them navigate the first days and weeks of the school year.

In another red flag for special ed reform, some parents are just now finding out that the aides who helped their children last year are no longer available. The city is now contracting with agencies to provide workers rather than hiring the aides directly, according to NY1 reporter Lindsey Christ. Because the agencies take a percentage for their work, aides who were paid $20 an hour last year, would now be paid only $10. The city says these new contracts will save money. According to NY 1, the 49 companies that contracted with the city to provide workers "will keep close to half of what the DOE pays them per hour to staff schools with therapists and aides. In other words, taxpayers shell out $18 an hour for educators who make just $10 an hour."