Stephen Stowe on racial disparities in special education funding

And you may begin.

Thank you, Councilmember Dinowitz and De La Rosa and other members of the Education and Technology Committee.

My name is Stephen Stowe.

I'm a parent of two former public school students, and I previously served on a community education council.

I'm here to support bills INT 684 and INT 853, sponsored by Councilmember Zhuang.

I agree with the premise of both these bills, that many issues in our education system come simply from a lack of awareness and knowledge of what's available to parents.

It's very concerning that white families get the majority of private school special education funding.

As Chalkbeat reported, 71% of the private school tuition for students with disabilities who could not otherwise have their services met by the DOE went to white families.

the fact that they make up only 12.5% of students with disabilities.

By comparison, as Councilwoman Zhuang was highlighting earlier, black and brown students make up 75% of students with disabilities, but only got 24% of the tuition.

This is due to very complex cultural, socioeconomic reasons, and educational reasons.

In short, an awareness gap exists.

The City Council can take the lead on addressing these inequalities by advancing INT 853.

On the G&T, for years G&T programs were systematically cut in black and brown neighborhoods for political reasons.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, we also got a steady reduction in the number of black and brown students attending the most selective high schools.

I applaud the prior administration for starting to expand the number of programs in underserved districts, but more should be done.

There is still not enough awareness of these programs, and we can't just make token efforts.

Continue efforts to address gaps in awareness, which this bill will help do.

The council can take the lead on addressing this inequality by advancing INT 684.

In conclusion, the DOE does offer an amazing range of programs.

So much of the issue is knowledge and awareness with parents.

I support these bills and hope they are passed, acted on, and used to improve.

Real education policy in New York City.

Thank you.

Thank you all for your testimony.

I will now call the next panel.

Greg Pack.

Kristen?

Adrian Savore?

Carrie Hill, Ariana Rebellini, and Effie Zachary.

Oh, I do.

You may begin when you're ready.