04.20.2022 | PIX 11 |  Advocates and city leaders pressured the Department of Education Wednesday to fulfill a promise to support students in foster care. 

The DOE announced a division dedicated to the needs of students in foster care in December of 2021. City data shows those children are suffering with low graduation rates along with high absenteeism and suspension rates. 

Only 43% of students in foster care graduated on time in 2021, 38 percentage points lower than the rate for students not in foster care. More than 20% of New York City students in foster care repeat a grade, compared to only 6% of all DOE students. Watch video