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Julian’s Story
Julian is a 3-year-old preschooler with delays in his language skills, but the DOE failed to provide recommended services.
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3.22.2012 | The New York Times | Randi Levine, a lawyer for Advocates for Children of New York stated, “ While children in New York City have the right to attend kindergarten if their parents choose, the voluntary nature of kindergarten has caused widespread confusion and has resulted in children...
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10.17.2011 | Gotham Schools | Advocates for Children of New York will be serving on a statewide think tank that will advise the State Education Department on its application for a No Child Left Behind waiver.... Read article
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11.3.2011 | Gotham School | “I worked with Mojica for years when he was in the Bronx, and I know he is a strong advocate for parents, but since he gained this new position I have not spoken with him,” said Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children.... Read article(Note: This story...
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11.8.2011 | NBC News New York | “We’ve got a long way to go,” Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children told me, “before the children in our elementary and high schools will be able to benefit from having a major university like Stanford or Cornell offer them such an opportunity. There needs to be a lot...
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11.18.2011 | Gotham Schools | Kim Madden of Advocates for Children of New York, said the city’s contingency plans would pose new problems for poor families and children with special needs. “Taxis are not exactly accessible in NYC for people who use wheelchairs!” Madden wrote in an email. “Poor...
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1.18.2012 | Insideschools.org | "The data shows that all students do not come into the school system with an equal chance of accessing the most coveted programs," said Kim Sweet, director of Advocates for Children… Read article
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AFC testimony delivered to the New York City Council General Welfare, Education and Youth Services Committees Re: Oversight Coordination between DHS, DOE and DYCD to Ensure Homeless Children and Youth are Properly Educated.
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AFC testimony delivered to the New York City Council Committee on Education Re: The New York City Department of Education School Suspension Data.
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AFC testimony delivered to the New York Standing Committee on Children and Families Re: Challenges Facing the Child Care Community.
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AFC is encouraged by New York’s efforts to move away, however slightly, from a largely punitive school and district accountability system and toward providing increased support to districts and schools to improve the quality of teaching and learning. AFC outlines its concerns and makes specific...
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The report concludes that the New York City Department of Education (DOE), by its own accounting, has failed to provide related services to more than tens of thousands of students with disabilities in New York City.
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AFC urges legislators to protect access to high-quality EI services and ensure that EI services are driven by children’s needs, not by their health insurance coverage.
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AFC’s testimony before the City Council Committees on Education and Finance regarding the oversight of Medicaid claims for special education related services by the Department of Education.
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10.12.2011 | New York 1 News | Advocates said it is about time. "It's a great first step if it's put in place properly," said Gisela Alvarez of Advocates for Families and Children. "There is no doubt that these things need to be done."... Read article
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10.18.2011 | Gotham Schools | Advocates for Children of New York testified before the New York City Council regarding the education of homeless children and youth. “Unfortunately, specific practices at DOE and DHS all but guarantee educational instability for a large swath of homeless students,”...
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10.18.2011 | New York 1 News | "Without busing, parents of elementary school students must rely on DOE-provided MetroCards to accompany their child or children twice a day, every school day. For too many families, a MetroCard offers no solution," said Jared Stein of Advocates for Children.... Read...
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11.1.2011 | New York Post | “It’s troubling, because a lot of these kids are being suspended for behaviors that could be dealt with in a more constructive fashion,” said Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children. “We think suspension is very much a last resort because it removes a...
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11.8.2011 | Gotham Schools | “Historically we have seen that charter schools have not served the students with greater needs, so I think it’s great that the schools are making an effort,” said Kim Madden, director of legal services at Advocates for Children. “Certainly there’s a lot of room for...
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11.9.2011 | Riverdale Press | “Schools are under a lot of pressure these days to perform and a child who is more difficult and taking a lot of teacher time, it’s very tempting to get rid of them,” said Kim Sweet, executive director of Advocates for Children of New York. Kim Sweet said the...
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1.11.2012 | NBC News New York | “No one is asking parents what they think," Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children of New York told Gabe Pressman of NBC New York. As for Cuomo, she said: “I don’t think he’s really delved into this issue. He doesn’t want to. He is not asking people down at the...