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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Espa Zigouris, Senior Vice President of Education at Birch Family Services
11:19:37
ยท
178 sec
Espa Zigouris from Birch Family Services testified about the challenges faced by special education preschool providers and the need for continued funding support. She highlighted the disparity in teacher salaries and the importance of the 4,410 enhancement program for preschool special education students.
- Birch Family Services operates eight 4,410 preschool programs serving over 1,000 students with autism and developmental disabilities.
- The 2022 investment of $96 million helped provide equity for 4,410 preschoolers, including longer school days.
- Zigouris urged the city council to ensure the continuation of the 4,410 contract enhancement as a baseline in the fiscal year 2026 budget.
Espa Zigouris
11:19:37
Thank you.
11:19:38
Good evening, chair Joseph.
11:19:40
I apologize for that mix up, And good evening to other members of the city council.
11:19:45
Thank you so much for this opportunity to testify.
11:19:48
I'm Espeziguras, senior vice president of education at Bridge Family Services, which is a not for profit agency supporting children, adolescents, and adults with autism and other developmental disabilities since 1975.
11:20:02
Birch is a leading provider of special ed preschool services under contract with the New York City DOE, and we operate eight New York State Education Department approved 4,410 preschool programs and provide services to over a thousand preschool students in the least restrictive settings.
11:20:21
Our students are New York City public school students, and children are referred to us by the Committee on Special Preschool Special Education because the DOE has no suitable placement options.
11:20:34
Our tuition rates are determined by the SED and DOE.
11:20:38
And for years, Birch and similar providers have struggled to recruit and retain certified teachers, teacher assistants, and related service therapists because of the inadequate tuition reimbursement.
11:20:49
The result was our inability to provide competitive salaries to our teachers.
11:20:55
The challenge was exacerbated in 2019 when an agreement was reached by the city to raise the salaries of certified early childhood teachers at the DOE contracted CBOs.
11:21:06
This agreement failed to include certified special education teachers of DOE contracted forty four ten preschool special ed programs like ours, And this created a huge disparity between teachers that were included in the parity initiative with starting salaries for certified special ed teachers of 68,500 for ten months.
11:21:30
The mayor and the city council, in 2022 invested $96,000,000 to support preschool special education students and their families.
11:21:40
The 4,410 enhancement provided equity for 4,410 vulnerable preschoolers that the New York City DOE could not serve.
11:21:49
And they have not they have received a longer school day from five point five hours to six hours and twenty minutes, the same as their neurotypical three k and four k counterparts.
11:22:00
This has provided parents with additional childcare opportunities as well.
11:22:05
We're asking that members of the city council do the right thing for children with special needs and other families.
11:22:11
You must ensure that fiscal year twenty six budget invests in preschool special education, students, teachers, and staff at 4,410 CBOs through the continuation of the 04/2010 contract enhancement as a baseline.
11:22:27
That's the word.
11:22:28
Right?
11:22:29
So that preschoolers with disabilities get a fair and appropriate public education to which they're entitled
UNKNOWN
11:22:35
by law.