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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Today, AFC is testifying before the New York City Council Committee on Education, making recommendations as the State and City move forward with the critical work of developing new high school graduation pathways.
Maria Odom, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), issued the following statement in response to the proposal approved this morning by the New York State Board of Regents for the State Education Department (SED) to take the necessary steps to move forward with sunsetting diploma assessment requirements starting in the 2027–28 school year.
Today, AFC is testifying at the Joint Legislative Hearing on the Fiscal Year 2027 Executive Budget Proposal for Elementary and Secondary Education.
Today, AFC is testifying at the Joint Legislative Hearing on the 2025–2026 Executive State Budget Proposal for Elementary and Secondary Education.
Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), issued the following statement in response to the New York State Education Department (SED)’s proposal for implementing the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures, as presented at today’s Board of Regents meeting.
Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), issued the following statement in response to the release of the recommendations of the New York State Blue Ribbon Commission on Graduation Measures.
This research brief, prepared by AFC on behalf of the Coalition for Multiple Pathways to a Diploma, summarizes the research literature on exit exams and calls on New York State to decouple Regents exams from high school graduation requirements.
The Coalition for Multiple Pathways to a Diploma released a petition signed by more than 1,200 New Yorkers, calling on State leaders to permanently decouple Regents exams from graduation requirements, a practice which currently makes New York State an outlier in the U.S.
Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), issued the following statement in response to new State guidance strongly encouraging school districts to provide over-age high school students the opportunity to return to school next year to finish meeting requirements for a high school diploma, diploma endorsement or exit credential.
More than 100 education and advocacy organizations sent a letter urging the New York State Board of Regents and the State Education Department to once again give 21-year-olds who would otherwise be aging out of school this year the opportunity to return to high school for the 2021-22 school year.