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Advocates support NY special education preschool

Some education advocates in New York are out with recommendations to protect preschool special education programs. WAMC’s Dave Lucas reports.

The groups Advocates for Children of New York and the Alliance for Quality Education are worried that recent reports of costly fraud by some providers could jeopardize the programs.

At a news conference in Albany Thursday, they encouraged the state to vigorously audit programs and improve financing procedures.

The preschool special education program serves 3- to 5-year-olds with developmental delays or other disabilities. It's been under scrutiny following a series of recent audits by the state comptroller's office that found some private contractors had cheated the system out of millions of dollars.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office is now doing a top-to-bottom audit of the state education department's oversight and management of special education.

  • © 2012 The Associated Press.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.