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Dee Alpert, a longtime special education advocate whose close analysis of official documents kept city and state officials on their toes, died suddenly over the weekend.

Alpert, who also commented frequently on GothamSchools, died of a cerebral aneurysm, according to a report from her son posted Saturday night to the NYC Education News email list.

For many years, Alpert ran the Special Education Muckraker website, which is no longer active. The site collected special education news and Alpert’s analysis of city and state education data. Alpert told EdNews.org in 2007 that she entered the special education fray after witnessing what she described as a “corrupt administrative proceeding” over the way a student had been treated by his school district.

“I’m a child of the ’60′s, and I guess that trying to right some very obvious governmental wrongs was just part of my generation’s thing,” Alpert said.

At a time when adversaries in education debates often shout past each other, Alpert earned a reputation for engaging thoughtfully with those who disagreed with her. (more…)