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
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 Response to City Budget Agreement
06.30.2021 | Today, Kim Sweet, Executive Director of Advocates for Children of New York (AFC), issued the following statement in response to the announcement of the Fiscal Year 2022 city budget agreement:Following 15 months of unprecedented disruption in public education, we are pleased that the final budget includes a number of education... Continue reading
Organizations Urge DOE to Hire Shelter-Based Community Coordinators
06.25.2021 | Today, Advocates for Children of New York joined 25 organizations to urge the DOE to hire 150 shelter-based Community Coordinators to help students living in shelter reconnect with school and participate in supplemental programming offered by the DOE. With the DOE poised to receive tens of millions of dollars in COVID-19 federal... Continue reading
1,200 NYC Preschoolers with Disabilities Went Without Seats in Preschool Special Education Classes Last Year
06.09.2021 | Today, Advocates for Children of New York (AFC) issued the following response to the NYC Department of Education’s first release of preschool special education data required pursuant to Local Law 21 of 2020:Data released by the DOE show that at the end of the 2019-2020 school year, 1,215 preschoolers with disabilities were waiting for... Continue reading
AFC in the News
NYC is promising expanded special education services after school and on Saturdays. Here’s what we know.
07.28.2021 | Chalkbeat NY | Multiple advocates said they are concerned that schools will offer a fixed menu of special education services rather than figuring out what each student missed last year in consultation with parents and offering services tailored to those gaps. “What is most important for us is that there’s an individualized... Continue reading
Assemblymember Paulin & Senator Reichlin-Melnick on Early Intervention Services Legislation
07.16.2021 | Rockland News | “Early Intervention (EI) provides critical assistance for young children with developmental delays and disabilities at the time intervention can have the greatest impact," said Randi Levine, Policy Director, Advocates for Children of New York. "Following years of commercial health insurance companies denying the vast... Continue reading
Education advocates call for more clarity in City’s Academic Recovery Plan
07.14.2021 | amNY | Advocates for Children of New York, a nonprofit education advocacy group based in New York City, wants to makes sure that the new Mosaic curriculum is both culturally responsive and uses new and better ways to teach students how to read. According to the AFC, the current approach to reading instruction in public schools is... Continue reading
Who’s Happy About In-Person Summer School? N.Y.C. Parents.
07.08.2021 | The New York Times | But Advocates for Children of New York, a nonprofit, said a reimbursement system excludes children who cannot afford the upfront payment. Prepaid car service is available for students who live in shelters and MetroCards are available to all families, the department said in a statement. Read article Continue reading