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Julian’s Story
Julian is a 3-year-old preschooler with delays in his language skills, but the DOE failed to provide recommended services.
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02.05.2014 | Four of AFC's guidebooks are newly available in Spanish! AFC's Guide to Early Intervention [PDF] / Guía de AFC Sobre Intervención Temprana [PDF]; AFC's Guide to Preschool Special Education Services [PDF] / Guía de AFC Sobre Servicios de Educación...
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02.11.2014 | Today AFC will be testifying 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. If we are serious about improving our schools, we must...
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01.27.2014 | 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 [PDF] and English Language...
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03.24.2014 | Today, AFC will testify 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. View testimony [PDF]
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04.04.2014 | On Wednesday, April 30, the Coalition for Multiple Pathways to a Diploma will be sponsoring a policy briefing in Albany with State Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan and Senator John Flanagan. Join us to learn more about the current graduation crisis in New York State and opportunities for...
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Contact Advocates for Children of New YorkThe Jill Chaifetz Education HelplineFor help with an education-related issue, please call our Education Helpline at(866) 427-6033 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM, Monday through Thursday. You can also visit our Who We Serve page for detailed information about our...
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Resource: Applying to High School
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Resource: Solicitar a la Escuela Secundaria
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03.09.2012 | Research demonstrates that the stimulation and interaction a child receives during the first five years of life are critical to permanent brain development. Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Early Intervention (EI) program provides evaluations and...
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09.03.2019 | After years of the New York City Department of Education (DOE) failing to follow hearing orders to provide or pay for services for students with disabilities, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) and Milbank LLP filed a Motion for an Independent Special Master to oversee the DOE’s...
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04.16.2012 | Mayor Bloomberg’s Preliminary Budget would cut 47,000 children from early childhood education and after-school programs. To see what you can do to oppose these cuts, and to get an update on Early Intervention in the final state budget, please see our action alert [PDF].
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06.20.2012 | AFC and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) filed a complaint today with the Office for Civil Rights of the United States Department of Education against the DOE for its systemic failure to provide translation and interpretation services to tens of thousands of limited...
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02.05.2019 | Ahead of a public hearing on proposed education funding in the New York state budget, the Safe and Supportive Schools Coalition urges lawmakers to expand support for school discipline reforms. Education advocates, community organizations and civil rights groups have called for an...
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08.13.2014 | AFC has updated our start-of-school fact sheet for families of students with disabilities, which covers concerns that typically come up at this time of year, such as what to do if a child does not yet have a school assignment or the school assigned says they cannot serve the child’s...
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08.31.2012 | AFC supports the recommendations of the Fund for Public Advocacy to strengthen the NYC Department of Education’s special education reform. We have called continuously on the DOE to define measures for evaluating the reform, develop clear enrollment policies that balance serving...
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12.06.2012 | Today, the DOE proposed changes to the Chancellor’s Regulations to make kindergarten mandatory with certain exceptions. While the proposed regulations include exceptions required by state law, the proposal sends the message that kindergarten is a fundamental part of a child’s education...
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01.02.2013 | AFC commends the New York Education Reform Commission for proposing an expansion of high-quality prekindergarten programs. At a time when the city and state are implementing the rigorous Common Core Standards and emphasizing college and career readiness, we cannot afford to have some...
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01.15.2013 | More than 152,000 New York City students, including 54,000 with special education needs, depend on school buses to get them to their classes each day. In the event of a strike, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) urges the City to take every possible action to ensure that these...
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04.08.2013 | Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) filed a complaint today with the New York State Education Department against the NYC Department of Education (DOE) for its failure to provide students with disabilities necessary behavioral supports as mandated by law. Providing these supports...
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05.30.2013 | Last year, there were 69,694 suspensions and 2,548 arrests and summonses in the New York City public schools. Research and experience have shown that we can keep our schools safe while reducing these high rates of suspensions and arrests, which are linked to high rates of school...