Todd Gluckman Testifies Before the D.C. Council Committee of the Whole about Special Education and Budgetary Issues in DL v. District of Columbia and TPM v. DC

On December 10, 2025, TPM Partner Todd Gluckman testified before the D.C. Council Committee of the Whole at a public hearing related to special education. He explained that the District has not yet complied with the 2016 DL v. DC injunction related to timely special education for preschoolers, described work that the District still needs to do to achieve compliance, and described related problems that have prevented children from receiving the special education that they need. The District’s problems are particularly concerning because time is of the essence to provide these young children with special education that could, when started early, improve their educational outcomes and impact them throughout their lives. Chairman Mendelson expressed concern about the amount of time that the District has been out of compliance since the DL injunction issued and was surprised that new barriers to compliance continue to arise, particularly regarding children with disabilities that need self-contained classrooms but received no education for part of the 2024-2025 school year.

Mr. Gluckman also described the District’s continued failure to produce budget-related documents from OSSE and DCPS in violation of the orders of the Superior Court and the D.C. Court of Appeals in TPM v. DC. On November 12, 2025, TPM moved for contempt due to this noncompliance, describing the government’s disregard of the laws and Court orders as profoundly regrettable. Chairman Mendelson expressed deep concern and astonishment that the District government continues to disregard binding rulings from both the Superior Court and the Court of Appeals, forcing TPM to take the extraordinary step of filing a motion for contempt.

A written version of Mr. Gluckman’s testimony can be found here.