03.24.2021 | Chalkbeat New York | “We have heard from families desperate for help because their children with autism or other complex disabilities were going without appropriate services because there were no available seats in the type of class they needed,” the nonprofit Advocates for Children noted in a statement. “Yet, the mayor’s announcement today will do nothing to help these children.” 

Advocates for children with disabilities have been quick to point out that those students have consistently been left behind the mayor’s promises to make preschool universal. The city has regularly fallen short by hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of seats in special education pre-K classrooms, forcing students to go without instruction and legally required services such as speech or physical therapy. Part of the shortfall is due to stagnant funding from the state, resulting in the closure of many programs serving children with disabilities. Read article