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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Keira K., Youth Leader from Circle Keepers
7:55:43
ยท
3 min
Keira K., a tenth-grade student with an IEP, testifies about the failure of the educational system to provide mandated support for students with disabilities. She highlights her personal struggles with not receiving required services and advocates for increased investment in restorative justice programs and support for students with disabilities.
- Keira emphasizes that she is not receiving most of her IEP-mandated services, including speech therapy, special education teacher support, and physical therapy.
- She calls for an $800 million investment to hire restorative justice coordinators in 500 schools.
- Keira contrasts the $400 million spent on police and surveillance with the lack of funding for mandated special education services.
Keira K.
7:55:43
afternoon.
7:55:44
My name is Keira Healy.
7:55:47
I am a tenth grade student in a Downtown Brooklyn school and a leader at the Circle Keepers and a Dignity in Schools Coalition.
7:55:54
I'm here to talk to you about a personal issue, something that hits home and has affected me deeply for far too long.
7:56:02
Students with individualized education plans, otherwise known as IEPs, are being failed by an educational system that legally mandates their support but consistently fell falls short in meaningful implementation and over criminalizes them.
7:56:20
And it's all because we are not given the accommodations needed.
7:56:25
I am a kid with said IEP and I am not getting what I need in my school and it has been going on for over a year.
7:56:32
I'm supposed to get speech but my speech teacher is currently on maternity leave and because of that I haven't really been given speech at all this year because my school couldn't find another speech teacher to fill in.
7:56:46
I also haven't been getting the special education teacher support services I am required by my IEP.
7:56:52
So I am currently struggling in the majority of my classes.
7:56:57
I'm also supposed to get physical therapy, but I am not receiving that either.
7:57:01
And from what I know, the only accommodation I'm getting out of the four that I need is counseling.
7:57:08
So almost the entirety of my IEP is not fulfilled.
7:57:12
Despite federal protections and carefully crafted plans, sorry, students with learning differences, neurodivergent challenges, and specific educational needs continue to be marginalized, under resourced, and denied the fundamental right to an equitable accessible education that recognizes their unique potential.
7:57:33
This neglect not only violates legal requirements but perpetrates long term academic, social, and emotional harm for some of our most vulnerable students, limiting our success.
7:57:46
And I am here fighting for restorative justice and more supportive programs in schools.
7:57:53
We demand the city invest in 800,000,000 to hire school based restorative justice coordinators in 500 schools because it's an undeniable fact that we don't provide services to students with disabilities, but we funnel them into the school to prison pipeline.
7:58:13
And we spent a boatload of money, about 400,000,000 on police and surveillance, but we can't provide mandated special education.
7:58:23
How is any of that okay?
7:58:26
We need programming that supports students with disabilities, including concrete transitional plans and pathways towards employment in areas of related services, such as occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech.
7:58:40
And we need this investment now because the biggest resource we lack is time.
7:58:46
Thank you.