ARISE Member FAQ

When individual members join, they’re automatically added to the distribution list. When organizations join or their staff change, it’s up to the primary contact at the organization to let Maggie know all staff/members who should be added to the distribution list. There is no limit to how many staff/members organizational members of ARISE can put on this list.

The listserv can be used by any member and is intended to be used for the following:

• Sharing relevant information, announcements, and soliciting advice or best practices relevant to ARISE’s mission
• Notifications of upcoming meetings
• Sharing agenda items and notes for and of coalition meetings and committee meetings

For the most part, the full coalition meets every other month. If there’s a lot going on, we’ll sometimes arrange for an additional meeting. If it’s a particularly quiet time, we’ll sometimes skip a meeting. Members on the distribution list will always receive notice of the meeting and the proposed agenda for the meeting ahead of time with information about how to participate.

No. We recognize that members have different obligations, and the timing of some meetings can be difficult based on those obligations. In the past, there was always the option to call-in for meetings that were held in-person. These days our meetings are held on Zoom and will likely remain there for the time being. Following monthly meetings, notes are always sent to all on the distribution list so those who weren’t able to participate can know what was discussed.

We currently hold our monthly meetings on the third Thursday of the month from 3 to 5 pm. About once a year, we reevaluate that plan to determine if there’s a time that would work for a greater number of our members.

Previously, as noted above, meetings were held in-person with the option to call-in. We are currently holding our meetings on Zoom and plan to continue to do so, perhaps with an in-person option as well at some point in the near future.

We generally try to hold full coalition meetings with staff from the DOE’s Office of Special Education about four times a year. At various times, we have invited staff from the Chancellor’s Office, the Chief Academic Office, the Office of Space Planning, the Office of Student Enrollment, and the Office of Early Childhood to our meetings depending on the agenda.

Agendas for meetings with the DOE are sometimes set as a check-in, but more frequently based on letters and communications we’ve had with the DOE on specific topics. ARISE members typically plan for the DOE meeting at a full coalition meeting ahead of time where we identify the topics for discussion and which members will present our concerns or introduce the topics. Notes from those planning meetings are then shared with all members on the distribution list so those who weren’t able to attend have an opportunity to provide input. Once the agenda is set and the plans made, all members are asked to stick to them in order to make sure that we can get through the topics.

Not currently, as we do not have a budget for that, but if members want to offer their help in providing interpretation services, please speak with Maggie. We have provided interpretation for speak outs, where we invite members of the public to share their stories, thoughts, and concerns.

Any members of the full coalition can join any and as many committees as they’d like at any time. No member is required to join a committee. If you’re interested, however, just let Maggie know you’re interested, and she’ll get you added to the group.

We currently have committees focused on school accessibility, literacy, transition planning, and students with disabilities entering kindergarten. We have a few working groups as well to focus on immediate concerns such as the development of our communication guidelines and working to ensure anti-bias and anti-racism practices among coalition membership.

The committee members will meet separately from the full coalition to set agendas specific to the topic and to determine the best course of action in pursuit of that agenda. Meeting dates and times for committees are set based on the schedules of their individual members in an effort to find a time that all, or at least most, committee members can participate.

Please feel free to propose any new committees at full coalition meetings or in emails to the full distribution list. We’re very open to starting new committees and work groups; the topic needs to relate to our mission/agenda and there needs to be enough interest from other members.

They do in order to discuss more targeted issues in a smaller setting. At those meetings, all members of the committee will be invited, but attendance will be limited to committee members specifically.

Please feel free to do so either at a monthly meeting or in an email to the distribution list. Please remember, however, that the listserv is not a forum for extensive debate about ideological differences. Rather, members are encouraged to engage in back-and-forth dialogue in forums better suited – such as monthly meetings and meetings of relevant committees.

For all public positions we take – at hearings, in letters or written papers/briefings, and with the press – we must first agree on where we stand on the issue. With enough time to discuss, we will do so at one or more meetings, with the opportunity for input open to all members even if they have been unable to attend the meetings. In the past, on occasions when we couldn’t come to consensus, we have opted for other approaches such as sign-on letters from individual and organizational members – allowing those in agreement to sign and the others to opt out.

When we first started in 2008, we had funding for a few years from the New York Community Trust, but that ran out years ago. Since then, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), the organization that coordinates the ARISE work, has continued to apply for smaller grants to support targeted work around, for example, school accessibility and raising literacy rates for students in NYC public schools, but in general, AFC has paid coalition expenses, including the cost of staff to coordinate the coalition, out of money it has raised for general operating support.

AFC remains committed to ARISE and Maggie Moroff, who works as AFC’s Senior Special Education Policy Coordinator, also serves as the Coordinator of ARISE. Additionally, members volunteer for a variety of short and long-term roles (e.g. note takers, listserv moderators, and ad hoc committee/taskforce members).

The mission statement and agenda were first drafted by members in 2008 and have been redrafted a few times by members to recognize changes to the NYC special education structure and growing concerns as times have changed. The most recent redraft of our agenda was done in 2018.

Drafted and adopted by members in the spring of 2023, the guidelines for communication can be found on our website.

Reach out to Maggie at mmoroff@advocatesforchildren.org to discuss.