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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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9.24.2012 | DNAinfo.com | "We're hearing from too many families that their children's preschool services were not in place at the beginning of the school year," said Randi Levine, a lawyer with Advocates for Children, which supports disadvantaged children in New York City... Read article
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Resource: Guide to the Educational Rights of Students in Temporary Housing: Charter SchoolsThis guide describes the rights of students in temporary housing who attend charter schools.
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9.12.2012 | New York Law Journal | Jamie Levitt, the President of AFC's Board of Directors, is featured in the New York Law Journal special supplement, "Lawyers Who Lead By Example." In her role on the Board, Levitt has helped to recruit Morrison & Foerster attorneys to represent parents at...
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9.13.2012 | City Limits | This school year the city has undertaken a dramatic transformation of special education to try to improve student achievement. While applauding the push, these writers believe the city has to put more resources into the classrooms where special ed kids are now learning....
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9.06.2012 | Insideschools.org | The aim of the special education reform--being rolled out in all schools this year--is to educate special needs children in the least restrictive settings possible, and, preferably, in their neighborhood schools. Is that what's actually happening? Not in all schools...
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Resource: PTI Training FlyerFlyer with general information about AFC's free onsite workshops.
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5.09.2012 | ABC Eyewitness News | Eric DeGiaimo, NYC student and recipient of the Education Champion Award at AFC's 2012 Spring Benefit, told his story to ABC Eyewitness News.
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5.29.2012 | WABC-TV | " We're asking the state to keep the local diploma as an option until they put into place new pathways to graduation," Gisela Alvarez, senior project director, said. Alvarez and the not-for-profit Advocates for Children of New York have joined a coalition, pushing for the...
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Blog: Univision Covers the Difficulties Immigrant Parents and Students Face in NYC Schools (Spanish)9.03.12 | Univision | Parents describe their difficulty advocating for their children with special needs without proper translation and interpretation services. Featuring AFC staff attorney Rigel Massaro.
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9.03.2012 | WNYC/SchoolBook | Advocacy groups working with students who require special education services in school say many families are facing mixed messages and open questions about the services local schools can provide them, with just days to go before the start of school. Advocates for...
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9.05.2012 | DNA Info | Advocates who work with special needs children say the DOE's goal of mainstreaming is admirable, but they worry that many of the city's 1,700 schools are ill prepared to serve the broad spectrum of kids who are now enrolling, including some who need small, self-contained...
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9.01.2012 | New York Post | At least 40 parents have approached the nonprofit Advocates for Children after being told that their kids wouldn't get small classes or extra services that were promised in official education plans. Read article
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8.14.2012 | NY1 News | At Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, 65 percent of the students live in households that earn under $30,000. That is double the figure of just three years ago.While Hillcrest saw one of the biggest jumps, student poverty has increased citywide. "An increase in poverty...
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8.28.2012 | Insideschools.org | The beginning of a new school year can be exciting -- and confusing. Some very helpful information is now available for families of students with disabilities. A new fact sheet from Advocates for Children is online in both English and Spanish. It covers a range of...
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8.27.2012 | Advocates for Children has a newly updated fact sheet to help families of students with disabilities through the start of the school year. It covers a number of concerns that typically come up at this time of year, including: What to do if a child does not yet have a school assignment...
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Over the last decade, child welfare agencies and advocates have begun to recognize that the students they serve need access to greater educational opportunities, and that education is critically important to child wellbeing, permanency planning and a successful transition to adulthood. This report...
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7.26.2012 | AFC is co-hosting a community forum on bullying on August 1. Learn more and RSVP at http://action.advocate.nyc.gov/bullying.
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7.30.2012 | Insideschools.org | Special education advocate Maggie Moroff of the ARISE Coalition and Advocates for Children says she firmly supports the goals of the reform, but, like many others, she has concerns about how changes will be implemented. "A dedicated hotline is great," she said. "But...
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7.26.2012 | City Limits | The city hopes EarlyLearn will make for higher-quality city-funded daycare. Despite funding shortages and doubts about the way contracts were awarded, some agencies and advocates believe the program has promise... Read Article
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Blog: World Journal Chinese Language Press Features Article about AFC's Complaint Filed Against the DOE6.21.2012 | World Journal Chinese Press | AFC and New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (NYLPI) filed a complaint 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...