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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Alex Elegudin, Director of Postsecondary Readiness Project at Advocates for Children of New York
5:30:57
·
4 min
Alex Elegudin, representing the Transition Alliance, testified about the challenges faced by students with disabilities in transition planning and accessing career pathways in NYC schools. He highlighted inadequacies in individualized education programs (IEPs) and the lack of guidance for schools in integrating students with disabilities into career-connected learning programs.
- Criticized the vague and incomplete nature of transition plans for students with disabilities
- Pointed out the limited availability and knowledge of transition team leaders in schools
- Raised concerns about the exclusion of students with disabilities from programs like Future Ready and Career Technical Education
- Emphasized the need for expanded travel training programs to help students navigate public transportation
Alex Elegudin
5:30:57
Good evening, chair Joseph, and, thank you so much for the opportunity to speak.
5:31:02
My name is Alex Hellegoutin, and I direct the postsecondary Readiness Project at Advocates for Children of New York.
5:31:11
I'm testifying today on behalf of the Transition Alliance, a coalition of more than 20 organizations dedicated to improving transition planning services for students with disabilities in New York City.
5:31:22
Together, we represent students, parents, advocates, and professionals working to ensure that students with disabilities are not left behind as they prepare for life after high school.
5:31:33
Federal law requires the DOE to ensure that every student with an IEP has a transition plan has a transition plan by the age of 15.
5:31:42
Yet we know from our work with families, these plans are often vague, incomplete, or not individualized to student's interest and abilities.
5:31:51
Transition planning is meant to be a bridge to adulthood, but for too many families, the bridge feels incomplete or missing altogether.
5:31:59
And they are left to navigate this process on their own without adequate guidance or support from their schools or the DOE.
5:32:06
While the DOE asks schools to designate transition team leaders, their availability and knowledge vary widely as these roles are part time and often assigned to a staff member as an add on to their full time position they already hold.
5:32:20
There's also limited information on who transition team leaders are in schools and where where families and parents should reach out to get meeting get, help and guidance.
5:32:33
We are also concerned about the barriers that students with disabilities are facing in accessing the DOE's career pathways.
5:32:40
The DOE has made a significant push toward career connected learning and postsecondary readiness through programs like future ready and Career Technical Education.
5:32:49
While these programs have the potential to provide valuable opportunities, too often students with disabilities are left out.
5:32:58
For example, the DOE has not provided clear guidance on the inclusion of students with disabilities in future ready, a new and up and coming program.
5:33:06
The section in the DOE's future ready NYC program guide for students with disabilities was blank for well over a year until just the last few days and still lacks the concrete information that schools need to properly integrate and serve students with disabilities and their programs.
5:33:23
Without this guidance, schools are left to figure it out on their own or worse exclude students altogether from their career connected and work based learning programs.
5:33:32
There is little transparency accountability when it comes to enrollment of students with disabilities in postsecondary programs.
5:33:39
Another major gap is travel training, teaching students how to navigate the public transportation system.
5:33:45
Families have expressed how valuable travel training would be for their children, not just for long term independence, but for the immediate need to get to internships, classes, and jobs.
5:33:55
The DOE's travel training program to district 75 is small and only serves a limited number of students a limited number of students.
5:34:03
For the majority of students with disabilities, there's no resource to help them learn how to use public transportation.
5:34:09
In closing, we ask to address these issues according to the the following.
5:34:13
There needs to be individualized support.
5:34:15
Every school should have a trained staff member like a transition team leader who can provide individual guidance to families.
5:34:21
There needs to be expanded access to career connected programs, and there needs to be stronger recruitment for students with disabilities.
5:34:28
The DOE needs to take a proactive parent outreach approach.
5:34:32
The DOE should proactively approach parents and families of transition age students offering workshops and individualized direct support.
5:34:41
Lastly, there needs to be a transit travel training expansion so that the DOE should have a citywide travel training program to serve all students with disabilities.
5:34:50
The transition planning isn't just a bureaucratic requirement.
5:34:53
It's a lifeline for students with disabilities and their families.
5:34:56
Thank you for