Dive Brief:

• In the past three years, New York City schools have lost $356 million in special education funds due to careless accounting.  
• City and state officials did not apply for federal Medicaid reimbursements, which, under federal law, pay back 100% of the costs for state and local special education services but require districts to front the cash and provide thorough documentation.  
• Failure to provide the documentation and get reimbursed didn't just affect special education students — without the refund, dollars typically earmarked for books, supplies, and general spending had to be moved around.  

Dive Insight:

If school officials do not remedy the current situation, New York City schools are on their way to losing another $310 million from Medicaid over the next four year.  

“Red tape and bureaucracy should not stand in the way of (the city) being reimbursed for the vast array of services provided,” NYC Controller Scott Stringer said in a report obtained by The New York Daily News. “That’s just unacceptable. There’s no excuse for leaving so much money on the table.”

Interestingly many districts did not apply for the state's universal pre-K program because they were uncomfortable with fronting the cash first before being refunded. Is there a way for the cash to be fronted while ALSO ensuring the programming actually occurs?