Advocates for Children of New York

Today, we're releasing data showing that last year, more than 146,000 NYC students—roughly one in every 8—experienced homelessness. While the City works to help families find permanent housing, it must *also* focus more attention on helping students who are homeless succeed in school. As we’ve seen in previous years, students experiencing homelessness are especially concentrated in upper Manhattan, the southwest Bronx, and parts of northeast/central Brooklyn. In both the Bronx & Manhattan, nearly 1 in 6 students did not have a permanent place to call home. Student homelessness is a longstanding challenge for New York City Public Schools: 2023–24 was the *9th year in a row* in which more than 100K students were identified as homeless. Students who are homeless—especially those living in shelter—face tremendous obstacles to success in school. Given what we know about disparities in academic outcomes, the increase in the number of students who are homeless only underscores the need for funding to help meet these students’ needs.

We don't yet know how the results of this week's election will affect AFC's work, but we do know that many of the policy proposals raised during the campaign would be devastating for the students and families we serve. Whatever comes next, know that AFC will continue to fight against discrimination and hate to stand with students and their families and protect their rights.

What a great day, celebrating the 2024 #DisabilityPrideParade with so many New Yorkers, advocates, and partners! A HUGE thank you to the organizers, and to everyone who came out to march, scoot, and roll down Broadway in celebration of equity, inclusion, and #disabilitypride

I had so much fun marching in the Disability Pride Parade with my colleagues from Advocates for Children of New York on Sunday. AFC has long fought to protect the education rights of New York City students with disabilities so they hold a special place in our hearts, as does this uplifting event. #disabilitypride #educationequity #nonprofit

After 17 years, the state of #NewYork is re-evaluating its school funding formula. The state budget agreement calls for the?Rockefeller Institute?to study it. Education advocates have noted that learning loss from the pandemic and the youth mental-health crisis have made this change more necessary. Randi Levine, policy director at?Advocates for Children of New York, said the?new formula?must allocate funds for homeless students and students in the foster-care system. "Currently," she said, "the formula does not provide any additional funding for those populations of students who have distinct educational needs and often face barriers to success in school." A 2023 report?noted that more than 119,000 #NewYorkCity students are homeless. Other recommendations to improve the funding formula include providing resources for New York City to implement its new class-size requirements, improvements to special-education distribution funding, and cost-effective strategies to aid multilingual learners. The final report from the Rockefeller Institute will be presented in early December. Political will from New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and the state Legislature remain a challenge to implementing some formula changes. Levine noted that pandemic funding was used to create a host of beneficial programs for students in New York City. Without that continuous federal funding, she said, New York State has to pick up the slack. "These are programs that were needed before the pandemic and are still needed today," she said. "But, the federal funding has now expired, and so there's a need for the state to contribute more resources." Some of those programs included doubling 3-K program participation, bolstering preschool special education, hiring 500 school social workers and psychologists, and creating a program to have coordinators help students living in shelters get to school.

We’re #hiring! Join our communications team to help AFC better support and empower NYC families & students who face barriers to academic success, and advance systemic reform. Learn more about the position and share if you know anyone who might be interested!

Today, we join more than 115 organizations to call on Gov. Kathy Hochul and NYS leaders to revamp New York’s outdated school funding formula and ensure schools have the resources they need to provide a high-quality education to *all* students. Read our recommendations: https://lnkd.in/ejMrEmFF We appreciate that the Governor and NYS Legislature fully funded the education funding formula in 2023, but the current formula relies on out-of-date and incomplete measures of need and has not evolved to account for growing costs. For the first time in 15+ years, New York State is reexamining the formula it uses to determine per-pupil funding. This is our chance to fight for adequate and equitable funding that reflects the true cost of meeting the needs of today's students and schools. https://lnkd.in/em_iYCK5

We’re #hiring for next summer's Law Internship Program, a wonderful opportunity for law students to gain experience in education advocacy and support NYC families and students!

An overhaul of reading instruction in NYC Department of Education schools has been long overdue. As much as we want to see immediate results from NYC Reads, we always knew that successful implementation would take time.?As AFC Director Kim Sweet said, “We need to take the long view and work for lasting change” in order to prepare all students for successful futures.

BREAKING NEWS! This fall, NYC Public Schools is opening over 50 new special education preschool and kindergarten classrooms in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens! Teachers who hold NY State certification (or are on track to be certified by 9/1) in Students with Disabilities Birth-2, 1-6, or All Grades are encouraged to apply. Time is running out to submit your application, secure a position, and complete the onboarding process by the first day of school on September 5th. Apply now: bit.ly/teachnycapp-li #SpecialEducation #StudentswithDisabilities #SPED #TeachNYC Hunter College Mercy University St. Joseph's University New York Touro University Graduate School of Education Queens College Teachers College, Columbia University New York University Lehman College Relay Graduate School of Education St. John's University