01.17.2013 | WABC-TV Eyewitness News | Because the Union and the City failed to come to an agreement by the deadline, the New York City schools lose more than 250 million dollars. "It's sad that the kids are going to pay the price," said Kim Sweet.
Call AFC's Education Helpline
(866) 427-6033
Monday to Thursday
10 am to 4 pm
AFC's Spring Benefit
Wednesday, May 15, 2024
6:00 – 9:30 pm
Three Sixty ° New York
Micaela is a dual-language learner who is on the autism spectrum and needed an appropriate school placement for kindergarten.
Help Advocates for Children support more New York City students!
Sign up for AFC's email updates and find other ways to take action.
01.17.2013 | WABC-TV Eyewitness News | Because the Union and the City failed to come to an agreement by the deadline, the New York City schools lose more than 250 million dollars. "It's sad that the kids are going to pay the price," said Kim Sweet.
01.16.2013 | New York Post | The nonprofit Advocates for Children called on the city to do more to accommodate 54,000 kids with special needs who are likely to be severely impacted. The Manhattan group said financial hardship makes it difficult for families to front the money for car service, and disabilities may keep certain students from public transportation or private cars. Read article
01.15.2013 | WPIX 11 News | “For those parents, it’s going to be really hard or impossible for [their] kids to get to school,” said Kim Madden, lead attorney for Advocates For Children New York, a children’s issues advocacy organization. ”MetroCards and reimbursement just won’t be enough.” Her organization is calling on the city and the bus driver’s union to come to an agreement soon. The organization is also asking the city government to make Access-A-Ride service more widely available for students while the strike is under way. Read article
01.15.2013 | SchoolBook | Kim Sweet, the executive director of the group Advocates for Children, said the back-up plans outlined by the Department of Education may be manageable for many families, but not for all. “Public transportation may not be feasible as a result of a student’s disability, and families who need a car service or taxi to get their children to school may not have the financial means or flexibility to pay carfare upfront and wait weeks for reimbursement,” Sweet said. “Additionally, families with more than one child to drop off and pick up at school and jobs to maintain may find it impossible to be in multiple places at one time.” Read article
01.15.2013 | Gotham Schools | Kim Sweet, the director of Advocates for Children of New York, which represents students with special needs, said she was disappointed but not surprised that Quinn did not mention special education once. “It doesn’t tend to be something that mayoral candidates jump into right out of the box,” she said, noting that Quinn has spoken out on behalf of students with disabilities in the past. But, Sweet said, “I was really happy about her emphasis on collaboration and coordination. I think we’ve had a system focused on competition and there’s a lot to be gained by an administration that focuses on bringing people together.” Read article
01.15.2013 | NY1 | By and large, education advocates and the teachers' union gave the speaker's proposals high marks... "I think if a new mayor comes into office that really wants to listen to parents and make them partners, I think you can do that without spending a lot of money," Kim Sweet of Advocates for Children said. Read article
01.15.2013 | New York Daily News | Maggie Moroff of Advocates for Children said she's worried about disabled students for whom public transportation won't work. "They don't have a solid plan for how they're going to deal with these more-complicated issues," she said. Read article
01.11.2013 | Staten Island Advance | Randi Levine, project director of the advocacy group Advocates for Children of New York, described the typical scenario in which the mayor proposes cuts to school programs, which galvanizes parents, teachers and officials to mobilize, whereupon much of the funding is restored. “There was a proposal to cut $170 million from child care and after-school programs [last year],” Ms. Levine said. “That proposal would have cut 47,000 children from after-school and child care programs.” She stressed the need for the city to identify a dedicated funding stream for the programs. Read article
01.08.2013 | New York Post | "I felt very fortunate in the educational opportunities I got," says Matthew Lenaghan, the son of two college professors. Graduating from Yale, he wanted to do something “meaningful” — so he joined Teach for America and went to teach ninth-grade social studies in a poor Houston neighborhood. He stayed for three years (TFA only requires a two-year commitment), then left for law school at NYU. Today, he’s the deputy director of Advocates for Children of New York, which helps ensure that at-risk kids get the education that they deserve. Read article
12.18.2012 | Insideschools.org | All 5th graders will turn in applications for middle school this Friday, Dec. 21. That includes students with special education needs who will fill out the same application as other children. There is often some confusion about the process, even after the roll-out of the special education reform this year. Now all schools are expected to accept students with special needs, which wasn't the case in the past. Parents say that outreach was poor at some schools last year, with special needs students unaware that they could apply. To help families of children with special needs better understand their rights when applying to middle school, Advocates for Children put together a list of recommendations and tips. Read article