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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Paulette Healy, District 75 Parent on Education Budget and Opportunities for Students with Disabilities
9:59:03
ยท
174 sec
Paulette Healy, a parent of two teenagers with IEPs in public high school, testifies about the need for greater investment in opportunities for District 75 students, transfer school students, and alternative pathway students. She criticizes the School Construction Authority's budget management and expresses concerns about the limited inclusion of D75 schools in the Future Ready initiative.
- Calls for metrics in the selection process for Future Ready program participation
- Proposes a model to develop various educational professionals (social workers, therapists, etc.) from D75 students, similar to the successful D75 para program
- Emphasizes the need for sustainable pathways for students with disabilities to achieve independent living
Paulette H.
9:59:03
We're gonna leave it to our fearless leader.
9:59:05
Okay.
9:59:06
Thank you, chair Joseph, for being a constant companion for our our children and a true champion for New York City public school families.
9:59:16
My name is Paulette Healy, and I'm raising two teenagers in public high school, both with IEPs, one in a d 75 inclusion program.
9:59:24
I had to laugh when, school construction said that their inability to complete projects was because projects cost more than they anticipated.
9:59:31
My son is learning financial literacy in his d 75 program.
9:59:35
In order to know how to create a budget to live independently as an adult, perhaps school construction needs a refresher on how to stay within budget or maybe stop greasing palms for contractors who do subpar work in order to curry favor from the mayor and his cronies, but that's a different hearing.
9:59:49
I do wanna focus my testimony testimony on future ready.
9:59:52
The career readiness initiative was funded $53,000,000 aimed to equip students with real life skills and prepare them for careers, including paid work based learning experiences, mentorships, and access to college credit and industry credentials to 15,000 students in a 35 schools.
10:00:09
Guess how many of them were d 75?
Rita Joseph
10:00:12
None.
10:00:12
Two.
10:00:13
Two.
Paulette H.
10:00:13
Not that the students didn't fit the criteria or that there was a lack of willingness from other d 75 programs to participate.
10:00:20
I actually don't know why there was only two.
10:00:22
But historically, bias about what our d 75 students are capable of has always been a barrier to access to these opportunities.
10:00:30
So as much as I love future ready to be baselined, I need to know what metrics is being used in the selection process before we do that.
10:00:37
What I will ask for today is investment in opportunities for our d 75 students, transfer school students, and our alternative pathway students.
10:00:44
My head is on a constant swivel watching for yet another transfer school to be on the chopping block for closure or another d 75 program being pushed out because a charter school wants to add a grade or another ASD Nest program getting relocated because rich, privileged parents want to expand their dual language program.
10:01:00
All of these decisions made by the DOE is a constant reminder that students who cannot learn in a traditional classroom setting are not worth the investment.
10:01:09
So our d 75 para program, which is a successful program, generates an average of 85 paras yearly that go on to serve students in our public school system.
10:01:19
This is a successful program that was piloted in D75 for D75 students who then go on to work with more students with disabilities.
10:01:29
I propose a similar model to develop social workers, speech occupational and physical therapists, restorative justice and travel training coordinators, and school bus drivers because these are vacancies every year that are positions that will that are very difficult to fill.
10:01:46
And if we take this direction, this will create a sustainable pathway for opportunities for our students with disabilities and provide them a better chance of independent living outside of the school system.
10:01:56
Thank you.