Todd Gluckman Testifies Before the D.C. Council Committee of the Whole about Special Education Issues

On November 4, 2026, TPM Partner Todd Gluckman testified before the DC Council Committee of the Whole at a hearing focused on why so much of DC’s special education is the subject of litigation. Mr. Gluckman described DC’s failure to address systemic special education issues before they get to the point where a class action is filed. He explained that problems he identified “have contributed to cases such as Petties v. DC, Blackman v. DC, Jones v. DC, DL v. DC, Charles H. v. DC, and Robertson v. DC being filed against the District—all class actions that are expensive and burdensome for the city to litigate and defend.” He emphasized that, while “[n]ot all issues can be resolved by money,” our sense is that, “rather than funding special education to the extent that is necessary, this city puts out one fire after another, and the upshot is that substantial funds are spent on litigation when they would have been much better spent remedying the problems at the outset.” He also explained that DC is not near to compliance with the 10-year-old injunction in DL v. DC. A written version of Mr. Gluckman’s testimony can be found here.