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  • Press Statement
  • AFC Responds to Mayor de Blasio’s Announcement about Pre-K Offers

    Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), issued the following statement in response to Mayor de Blasio’s announcement about offers to New York City Pre-K programs.

    May 13, 2020

    Close up of young student drawing with a colored pencil. (Photo by Werner Pfennig via Pexels)
    Photo by Werner Pfennig via Pexels

    While we are pleased that a record number of families received an offer to their first choice Pre-K program and that there are Pre-K seats left for families who did not yet apply, we are gravely concerned about preschoolers with disabilities who have a legal right to a preschool special education class but do not have one due to the City’s shortage.  Hundreds of preschoolers with disabilities were sitting at home prior to the pandemic and may have nowhere to go to school when buildings reopen.  The City’s plan for reopening schools must include ensuring there is a seat for every preschooler with a disability who needs one.

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