Policy

Public Comments & Testimony Archive: 2014

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AFC Testifies on Early Intervention, December 15, 2014
AFC testified before the City Council Committee on Mental Health, Developmental Disability, Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Disability Services on the importance of the Early Intervention program.

AFC Testifies Regarding Diversity in New York City Schools, December 11, 2014
AFC testified before the City Council’s Education Committee about diversity in NYC schools. Ensuring that students from diverse backgrounds have access to high-achieving schools and programs is critical, but is only one step. As the City Council strives to ensure that every school and program in NYC serves a diverse group of students, the City and DOE need to prepare schools to provide an excellent education to these students. Schools need resources, training, and the development of specialized programs to meet the needs of all students, including English Language Learners and students with disabilities.

AFC Testifies on Special Education Instruction and Student Achievement, October 28, 2014
AFC testified at the New York City Council Committee on Education's oversight hearing on special education instruction and student achievement, focusing on the need to improve literacy rates for students with disabilities.

AFC Testifies Regarding Guidance Services for Students, September 29, 2014
AFC testified before the New York City Council Committee on Education regarding guidance counselors in schools. We strongly support the City Council in publicly monitoring the number and distribution of guidance counselors, social workers, and school psychologists in New York City schools and would like to see the data that is eventually collected be used to expand access to academic and behavioral student support services. We also support the City Council’s call on the DOE to establish a comprehensive college preparation program to improve and expand college access for all students, particularly low-income students and students of color, and we want to be sure that students with disabilities and English Language Learners also are able to benefit from what the program has to offer.

AFC Testifies on Mental Health Services for New York City Students, September 15, 2014
AFC testified at a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Behavioral Health System Planning Forum on the need for DOHMH to work with the DOE to improve the mental health system for New York City’s students so they can stay and succeed in school. In our testimony, we request that DOHMH partner with the DOE to expand school-based mental health clinics and the number of mobile crisis response teams available for public school students. We also recommend that DOHMH provide training from experienced mental health professionals to school staff around trauma-informed care, positive behavior supports, and de-escalation techniques that will enable school staff to respond appropriately to students in crisis.

AFC Submits Comments on Disproportionality under IDEA, July 28, 2014
AFC submitted comments to the U.S. Department of Education regarding disproportionality under Section 618(d) of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Our comments focus on racial disproportionality in the identification, placement, and discipline of children with disabilities in New York City. Both citywide data and AFC’s on-the-ground experiences indicate that New York City disproportionately identifies Black students with an Emotional Disturbance (ED) classification and students classified as ED are much more likely to be removed from mainstream environments and placed in highly segregated settings. Students of color, students with disabilities, and students of color with disabilities are also disproportionately suspended from school, and New York City has not consistently provided IDEA protections to the students with disabilities it suspends.

AFC Testifies on Graduation Pathways and Career and Technical Education, July 16, 2014
Today AFC is testifying before the New York State Assembly Committee on Education regarding Career and Technical Education (CTE) in New York State (NYS). To respond to the graduation crisis in NYS, we must create both instructional and assessment pathways that take into account the postsecondary aspirations and learning styles of all students. We believe CTE can play a major role in this endeavor, especially as part of a broader system of multiple pathways to graduation. Unfortunately, many students have been limited in gaining access to CTE programs, particularly students with disabilities and English Language Learners. It is our hope that A.8189A/S.5966A begins to open doors to quality CTE programs for all students. Our testimony discusses considerations this legislation must address.

AFC Submits Testimony on Protecting Students from Elopement, June 12, 2014
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 Testifies on Charter School Management and Accountability, May 6, 2014
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 Testifies on the Impact of the 2015 Preliminary Budget on Early Learning Programs, March 24, 2014 
AFC testified before the City Council General Welfare Committee about the importance of providing adequate funding for high-quality early childhood education programs for young children from low-income backgrounds.

AFC Testifies on New York City's Plan for Universal Pre-K, February 11, 2014
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 Submits Testimony on the 2014-15 Executive Budget Proposal, January 28, 2014 
Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York, submitted testimony for the New York State Education Budget Hearing. In her testimony, Kim Sweet applauds the Governor’s call to make pre-kindergarten truly universal, but points out that the funding in the budget proposal is insufficient to reach this goal. As a result, she calls on the Legislature to support Mayor de Blasio’s plan to expand pre-kindergarten rapidly in New York City. She also makes recommendations regarding the Governor’s preschool special education reform, special education waiver, after-school, and anti-discrimination proposals.

AFC Submits Comments on New York State's ESEA Flexibility Waiver for 2014-15 (Part 2), January 27, 2014
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.