Stack of books against a blurred background. (Photo by Kimberly Farmer on Unsplash)

Policy Resources

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.

Call to Action to Sustain Education Programs Funded with Expiring Federal COVID-19 Relief
  • Sign-On Letter

    • Call to Action to Sustain Education Programs Funded with Expiring Federal COVID-19 Relief

    More than 170 organizations are calling on New York leaders to save critical education programs currently supported by temporary federal stimulus funding set to run dry in 2024.
    Young students sitting in a circle, several raising their hands. (Photo by RDNE Stock project via Pexels)

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    Safeguarding Success: The Need to Sustain Funding for Shelter-Based Community Coordinators
    Woman in the foreground holds a clipboard and listens as another woman shares her problems. (Photo by SDI Productions, iStock)
  • Issue Brief
    • Safeguarding Success: The Need to Sustain Funding for Shelter-Based Community Coordinators

    This brief highlights the impact of the 100 New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) shelter-based community coordinators (SBCCs) hired in 2022–23 and calls on Mayor Adams and the City Council to sustain funding for this critical initiative in the Fiscal Year 2025 budget. Funding for all 100 SBCC positions is set to run dry in June, and the City has not yet committed to continuing to fund their important work.

    Apr 4, 2024

    Hearing from Parents: Recognizing Families as Crucial Partners in Reading Instruction
    teacher meets with parent and young child in a classroom
  • Policy Report
    • Hearing from Parents: Recognizing Families as Crucial Partners in Reading Instruction

    This report, which is based on conversations with parents of New York City students about their experiences working with their children’s schools as their children were taught to read, makes recommendations for New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) on how to partner with families as the city enters the next stages of its efforts to improve reading instruction across the school system.

    Jan 25, 2024

    Access (Still) Denied: An Update on the Physical Inaccessibility of New York City Public Schools
    a public school where the entrance is at the top of a flight of stairs
  • Policy Report
    • Access (Still) Denied: An Update on the Physical Inaccessibility of New York City Public Schools

    This interactive report finds that only 31.1% of schools are fully accessible to students, parents, educators, and community members with physical disabilities as of the start of the 2023-24 school year. The report calls on the City to invest $1.25 billion—roughly 5-6% of its capital budget—in the forthcoming five-year Capital Plan to improve school accessibility.

    Aug 23, 2023

    Rising Enrollment, Shrinking Support: The Urgent Need to Protect Programs for Immigrant Students Amidst Funding Threats
    A girl sits with her backpack, looking at a textbook, outside a schoolyard. (Photo by Mary Taylor via Pexels)
  • Issue Brief
    • Rising Enrollment, Shrinking Support: The Urgent Need to Protect Programs for Immigrant Students Amidst Funding Threats

    The June 2023 brief shows the urgent need to reject proposed cuts and provide targeted investments to support immigrant students and families, including the more than 18,000 new students in temporary housing—most of whom are recently arrived immigrants—who have enrolled in New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) in the past year.

    Jun 20, 2023

    Falling Short: NYC’s Failure to Provide Mandated Services for Preschoolers with Disabilities
    A female occupational therapist works with a young boy, using play-doh to work on the boy's gross motor skills. (Photo by FatCamera, iStock)
  • Issue Brief
    • Falling Short: NYC’s Failure to Provide Mandated Services for Preschoolers with Disabilities

    This June 2023 data analysis shows that 37% of all preschoolers with disabilities—a total 9,800 children—went the entire 2021–22 school year without receiving at least one of the types of services the DOE was legally required to provide, a systemic violation of students’ rights. The report analyzes DOE data, which likely significantly understate the magnitude of the problem, and makes recommendations for needed changes moving forward.

    Jun 6, 2023

    Building on Potential: Next Steps to Improve Educational Outcomes for Students in Foster Care
    Students writing in their notebooks. (Photo by Katerina Holmes from Pexels)
  • Policy Report
    • Building on Potential: Next Steps to Improve Educational Outcomes for Students in Foster Care

    This January 2023 report provides an overview of the current — and dire — state of education for students in foster care in New York City. The report analyzes City data obtained through a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request and makes recommendations for how the City can better support students in foster care now that the DOE’s new foster care team is up and running.

    Jan 25, 2023

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