AFC works to change education policy so that the public school system serves all children effectively. We publish policy reports and data analyses, testify at the City and State levels, speak out in the press to bring attention to the challenges facing the students and families we serve, and join with other advocates, parents, youth, and educators to call for change.
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AFC testified before the New York State Assembly Committee on Education regarding Career and Technical Education (CTE) in New York State. Our testimony discusses considerations A.8189A/S.5966A must address.
AFC submitted testimony to the New York City Council Committee on Education regarding the proposed bill to equip all exit doors in elementary school buildings and buildings accommodating District 75 programs with an alarm system.
AFC testified before the New York City Council Committee on Education on the need to improve charter school accountability and oversight, particularly with regard to discipline policies and the recruitment, enrollment, and retention of students with disabilities and English Language Learners. AFC supports the Council’s bill calling for reports to the DOE on student demographic data for all co-located schools.
AFC testified before the New York City Council Committees on General Welfare, Juvenile Justice, and Women’s Issues about the impact of the FY 2015 Preliminary Budget on early learning programs, and the importance of providing adequate funding for high-quality early childhood education programs for young children from low-income backgrounds.
AFC testified before the New York City Council Committee on Education and Committee on Women’s Issues in support of New York City’s plan to create a new funding stream to pay for a rapid expansion of Universal Pre-K.
AFC submitted testimony for the New York State Education Budget Hearing, applauding the Governor’s call to make pre-k truly universal, but pointing out that the funding in the budget proposal is insufficient to reach this goal. AFC calls on the Legislature to support Mayor de Blasio’s plan to expand pre-k rapidly in NYC and also makes recommendations regarding the Governor’s preschool special education reform, special education waiver, after-school, and anti-discrimination proposals.
AFC submitted comments to the New York State Education Department regarding proposed amendments to the State’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) Flexibility Waiver. AFC commented on amendments addressing testing for students with disabilities and English Language Learners.
This report by The Coalition for Multiple Pathways to a Diploma, prepared by Advocates for Children of New York, examines the difficulties that high stakes standardized exit exams pose for many students and addresses the need for more flexible exam requirements and assessment-based pathways to a diploma.
AFC testified before the New York City Council Committee on Education, arguing that high-stakes standardized exit exams create unnecessary barriers to graduation.
This October 2013 policy paper calls on the DOE to include students and parents when putting the new teacher evaluation system into practice by establishing a stakeholder advisory group to provide feedback on the policy implementation process. The paper also provides examples of structures established for this purpose in other cities and states.