Advocates for Children of New York works on behalf of children who are at greatest risk for school-based discrimination and/or academic failure due to poverty, disability, race, ethnicity, immigrant or English Language Learner status, sexual orientation, gender identity, homelessness, or involvement in the foster care or juvenile justice systems.
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Spotlight
AFC Testifies on Reducing the Responsibilities of the NYPD
09.27.2021 | Today, AFC is testifying before the City Council Committee on Public Safety, joining the call from students, parents, and educators for police-free schools and urging the City to eliminate the reliance on the New York City Police Department to address the needs of students in our schools. The City must invest sufficient resources... Continue reading
AFC Testifies on School Reopening Protocols and Mental Health Supports
09.01.2021 | Today, AFC testified before the New York City Council Committee on Education on the City's plan to hire 250 new School Safety Agents (“SSAs”), rather than invest in the social-emotional and mental health supports our students need so profoundly at this point in time. As students return to school buildings to learn in person, it... Continue reading
AFC Joins 100+ Organizations to Urge Governor Cuomo to Increase Funding for Preschool Special Education Programs
08.09.2021 | Today, Advocates for Children of New York is joined more than 100 organizations in sending a letter urging the Governor to sign into law A. 8013 (Benedetto) / S. 6516-A (Mannion), a bill passed unanimously by the Senate and Assembly to ensure that preschool special education programs, as well as state-approved non-public schools for... Continue reading
Response to Release of DOE Academic Recovery Plan
07.08.2021 | Today, Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), issued the following statement in response to the NYC Department of Education’s release of its plan for using its historic influx of funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act:We appreciate that the City is using American Rescue Plan funding to... Continue reading
AFC in the News
It’s back to school for NYC. Here are 6 issues to watch this year.
09.12.2021 | Chalkbeat NY | But the question remains: What will happen after students are assessed and identified as having challenges? What specific training will be provided to educators to help them respond?“We don’t want to see this just left up to individual schools for everyone to do their own thing,” Sarah Part, a policy analyst at the... Continue reading
Looking for Mental Health Care and Falling Into an ‘Internet Wormhole’
09.07.2021 | The 74 | Police interventions for students in emotional distress rose from 2016 to 2020, according to a recent analysis by Advocates for Children of New York. Looking into 12,000 incidents where children were transported to hospitals for psychological evaluations, data shows that Black students and students with disabilities were... Continue reading
2021-2022 school year: How will NYC screen students for literacy skills in grades K-2?
09.02.2021 | SI Live | But experts say that the success of the screeners will depend on how schools use the information and the interventions they offer, according to Chalkbeat. While screening is important, implementation by schools and educators will be key, Sarah Part, a policy analyst at Advocates for Children, told the media outlet.... Continue reading
NYC plans to screen nearly 200,000 students in the early grades to uncover struggling readers. Then what?
09.01.2021 | Chalkbeat NY | Regular screening “is one component of a good system,” said Sarah Part, a policy analyst at the nonprofit Advocates for Children. Still, she and others said implementation will be key, including what specific training will be provided and how educators will be expected to tweak their teaching in response.“We don’t want... Continue reading