CCC testified before the New York City Council Committee on Education on February 25 to address the needs of students with disabilities throughout the city.

Alice Bufkin, CCC’s Director of Policy for Child and Adolescent Health, touched on a variety of subjects including:

• The importance of improving data collection and reporting to ensure students with disabilities are receiving timely services, and CCC’s support for City Council bills that would improve reporting on special education and Early Intervention services.
• The impact pay disparity between Pre-k teachers has on the population of students with disabilities and the teacher shortages it is contributing to.
• The state’s recent decision to close the Early Childhood Education Direction Centers and Special Education Parent Centers in June 2019. Their replacement services would only make navigating the system more difficult for families.