At Advocates for Children, we see again and again that when students of all ages have been failed by the system and still can’t read, they start making significant progress once they receive specialized tutoring, using evidence-based methods, in after-school settings or over the summer, or are placed in non-public school settings with expertise in teaching students with disabilities to read and write. The problem is not the children; it’s a school system that is not prepared to teach them effectively. The ARISE Coalition, which we coordinate out of AFC, has several concrete recommendations for the City to improve literacy rates for students with disabilities. We’re looking for the DOE to come up with a long-term plan for teaching all students, including students with disabilities, to read at or above grade level by the end of second grade.