After the White House announced it would be firing 1,300 Department of Education employees, cutting the unit in half, the Public Advocate defended the need for education investment within the city school systems. At a budget hearing of the Committee on Education, he stressed the importance of funding programs and initiatives aimed at equitable education services, including for students with disabilities.
“New York City is currently failing many of its students with disabilities—in particular, preschoolers with disabilities. Though the mayor promised a special education preschool seat for every child who needs one—and is legally entitled to one—it has yet to materialize for many children with disabilities,” stated Public Advocate Williams to open the hearing. “There are about 450 children who are sitting at home instead of in a classroom where they will receive the support and services they need.” Without the renewed funding, many of these students could possibly fall behind.
The Public Advocate also emphasized the importance for undocumented students having access to the services and support they need within the school system. One program, Promise NYC, was budgeted $25 million to help undocumented families in the city with education, but is set to expire in June of this year if it is not renewed. These services allow the youngest, newest New Yorkers to have access to early childhood education, since many are English language learners, already experiencing trauma on their way into the city.
Trauma and mental health issues resound throughout the school system, and addressing these challenges must be central to the budget. The Public Advocate argued that “Public schools are the main youth mental health system in our city, and an audit published last year by the State Comptroller found that too many public schools are understaffed with mental health professionals, are not adequately training staff, and only a few have services readily available.”
Cuts to education programs have a deep, lasting negative impact on the future of New York and its youngest residents – noting the impact of previous reductions, he said that “Education, our young people's services were defunded. We’ve never had a conversation about the impact of that but we have an opportunity here to really make some folks whole.”
Read the Public Advocate’s full comments below. STATEMENT OF PUBLIC ADVOCATE JUMAANE D. WILLIAMS TO THE NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION MARCH 13, 2025
Good morning,
My name is Jumaane D. Williams, and I am the Public Advocate for the City of New York. I would like to thank Chairs Joseph and Brannan and the members of the Committees on Education and Finance for holding this hearing.
Firstly, I want to acknowledge that the federal relief funding given to schools during the pandemic—Elementary and Secondary Schools Emergency Relief—expired last year. This funding was crucial for a number of school programs, and the city stepped up to provide continued funding that otherwise would have been scaled down or ended. While some programs were baselined, others were only extended for a year. The mayor’s preliminary FY26 budget extended funding for Learning to Work and summer programming for another year, but does not include long-term funding.
New York City is currently failing many of its students with disabilities—in particular, preschoolers with disabilities. Though the mayor promised a special education preschool seat for every child who needs one—and is legally entitled to one—it has yet to materialize for many children with disabilities. There are about 450 children who are sitting at home instead of in a classroom where they will receive the support and services they need—though NYC public schools confirmed this number, the preliminary budget does not renew $55 million in funding for new classrooms. It is important to reiterate that these seats are legally required, and students’ rights are being violated every day that they are not receiving special education services. Last year, more than 14,400 preschoolers with disabilities ended the school year without ever receiving at least one of the types of services the city was legally required to provide, and that is unacceptable.
It is now more urgent than ever to ensure that our undocumented students and newest New Yorkers have access to the services and support they need. In January 2023, the city launched Promise NYC, which helps families who previously didn’t qualify for other state or federal programs due to their immigration status, including undocumented parents and asylum-seekers. It is especially important for recently arrived children to have access to early childhood services, as many are English language learners, and many have experienced significant stress and trauma on their way to New York. The city increased funding in FY25 for Promise NYC, extending access to 1,000 children, but the full $25 million funding will expire at the end of June if not renewed in the budget.
In August of 2023, Advocates for Children found that only 31.1 percent of NYC schools are fully accessible for people with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act requires that governments ensure people with disabilities have equal access to public programs and services, including public education. However, many students with disabilities are barred from attending their neighborhood schools because of inaccessible infrastructure. The city must allocate $450 million in addition to the $750 million investment in the 2020–2024 Capital Plan, totaling $1.25 billion to make at least 45 percent of buildings that serve as the primary location for a school fully accessible by 2030.
Public schools are the main youth mental health system in our city, and an audit published last year by the State Comptroller found that too many public schools are understaffed with mental health professionals, are not adequately training staff, and only a few have services readily available. School-based mental health clinics provide a range of on-site mental health services to students during the school day, and most of their current funding comes from Medicaid, which is insufficient to cover the range of supports and services that students and schools need. To cover this gap, the city should invest and baseline at least $3.75 million. Additionally, the Mental Health Continuum, a cross-agency partnership to serve students with the greatest mental health needs, requires a renewal of $5 million in the FY26 budget.
I look forward to working with the Department of Education, the Mayor’s Office, and the City Council to ensure our city’s students have the supports and services they need to learn and be successful.
I also hope this is an opportunity for the mayor to step up against what’s happening in Washington as the Chair alluded to. He hasn’t said much. But I do know that money speaks even louder. And so if he is opposed to some of these things this is an opportunity for us to step up and protect our young people.
I also just want to mention that the NYPD was never defunded, but most other services were. Education, our young people's services were defunded. We’ve never had a conversation about the impact of that but we have an opportunity here to really make some folks whole. And as I said the NYPD is speaking about their plans to deal with quality of life issues. I know with services like this that we’re talking about here today, we can do some stuff on the front end and not have to ask NYPD to do stuff on the back end. Those need to be fully funded and structured even though we have a difficult time and I just want to make sure I mention, I understand how difficult it is but we have to make the best decisions for our young people so they can be safe and grow to be good adults.
Thank you so much. Peace and blessings. Thank you Commissioner for being here.
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