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
Get ready for back to school!
08.19.2019 | The first day of school is Thursday, September 5! In preparation, we've updated our start-of-school question & answer fact sheet [PDF] for families of students with disabilities. The fact sheet covers common problems families face at the beginning of a new school year, from services not being in place to the school bus... Continue reading
Know Your Rights: Immigrant Students and Families
08.15.2019 | Every student in New York City has the right to attend public school, regardless of immigration status. Following recent immigration-related activities by the federal government, the New York City Department of Education (DOE) issued a letter [PDF] and flyer [PDF] to families reiterating this commitment. Both documents are... Continue reading
AFC & NYCLU Submit Comments on the Proposed Discipline Code
07.30.2019 | Today, Advocates for Children and the New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU) jointly submitted comments to the New York City Department of Education on proposed changes to the New York City Discipline Code for the 2019-2020 school year. Read our comments [PDF] Continue reading
Response to Release of NYC School Discipline Package
06.20.2019 | Today, Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), issued the following statement in response to Mayor de Blasio’s release of a school discipline package: Today, the City is taking some very important steps to support the social and emotional needs of students and keep them in school. Day after day... Continue reading
AFC in the News
Education advocates say foster care transportation plans fall short
08.20.2019 | New York Daily News | The city currently places foster care students on buses only if a route already exists. It also buses students whose special education plans require it — a substantial chunk of students in foster care. But for the remaining students, the Education Department offers only a MetroCard. For elementary schoolchildren... Continue reading
In the ‘Crazy, Complicated’ World of Special Education, Parents Turn to One Another for Help — on the Internet
08.19.2019 | The 74 | “Every step along the way brings its own questions and confusion, forms to be filled out, meetings to attend and rights to be aware of,” explained Maggie Moroff, special education coordinator at Advocates for Children of New York. She described special ed as “a crazy, complicated system where parents are forced to be their... Continue reading
Only nine hearing officers for 9,695 special education cases
07.09.2019 | THE CITY | Representatives for the DOE also lack the authority to determine when a case should be settled rather than litigated. That setup leads to few quick resolutions, even when both sides agree, said Rebecca Shore of Advocates for Children, which works on behalf of at-risk kids. “I didn’t see any real plan that was going to... Continue reading
NYC vows to address special education failures detailed in state review. But will their reforms go far enough?
07.09.2019 | Chalkbeat New York | “These children only have one shot at education; whether we get it right or wrong today impacts their life chances,” said Randi Levine, the policy director at Advocates for Children, an organization that works with special needs families. The state’s initial report, known as a “Compliance Assurance Plan,”... Continue reading