Neal Takiff

I consulted with Neal Takiff regarding my son's education as my soon-to-be ex spouse wished to hire him in an attempt to secure special educational services for my son. He seemed to think that my son, who suffers from only mild dyslexia, was so disabled that he could secure a private placement for h...im at a school costing nearly $45,000 per year at the school district's expense. He also has a distinct conflict of interest as the name of the private school he recommended appears on the door of his firm's offices, and his firm sponsors promotional videos for this school. He refused to listen to my point of view that my son needed only additional supports in his present public school placement or private tutoring. I did not hire him. Neal further acted unethically by inserting himself into my family's pending divorce and custody case. He appeared before the judge in that case advocating on my wife's behalf, and the judge gave my spouse leave to hire him and eventually granted her full educational decision making. Neal was unable to secure the private placement for my son that he suggested he could. Instead, my son was transferred to an underperforming Title 1 public school from his prior high-performing neighborhood elementary school. Rather than walking to school as he did previously, he is transported with other special-needs students by a paratransit service (he has no mobility issues). His prior school was rated 9/10 by greatschools.org and his new school is rated only 4/10.