New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has cancelled plans to cut direct state funding to eleven schools for children who are deaf, blind and physically challenged.
The state has committed $98 million to ensure that funding remains available to the schools, which serve 1,700 students.
This reverses a proposal in the 2011-12 budget, which began April 1, to shift the $100 million cost of 11 specialized schools from the state to local school districts. That change would have created an unfunded mandate for the districts that refer children to those schools to come up with the funds themselves.
Dr. Harold Mowl, chairman of the 4201 Schools Association and superintendent of the Rochester School for the Deaf, released a statement on March 31 saying, “For nearly 200 years, the state has supported the education of some of New York’s most vulnerable children. Today, we know that the governor and the legislature are committed to providing certainty and clarity for our students and families.”
Mowl continued, “I encourage Governor Cuomo and each and every member of the legislature to visit our schools. They will witness students meeting challenges head-on, observe classroom interaction and leave with a knowledge that every child deserves to lead a fulfilling, independent, productive life.”
In addition to the governor’s decision to maintain funding to the schools, the New York State Education Department plans to work with the 4201 Schools Association to develop a new process for determining appropriate tuition payments for each school.
The eleven schools that would have been affected by the proposed change are the New York State School for the Blind, the New York State School for the Deaf, the Cleary School for the Deaf, the Henry Viscardi School, the Lexington School for the Deaf, the Rochester School for the Deaf, the St. Francis deSales School for the Deaf, St. Mary's School for the Deaf, Lavelle School for the Blind, St. Joseph’s School for the Deaf, Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf and New York Institute for Special Education.
The schools are regulated by section 4201 of the state’s Education Law and are known as "4201 schools."The proposal would have re-categorized them from state-supported private schools to special education services under section 4410.
The governor’s initial proposal was met with criticism from the community, including an online petition for the continuation of state funds to the schools.
Residents of East Meadow, Long Island held a rally to support the Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf on March 26. State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg was in attendance.
"We have hundreds of children who take their time to come here and lobby, if you will, to be able to say look at us, see who we are and support us in our desire to be able to get the funding that's necessary," Weisenberg told the local news service Patch.com.
More than 1,200 people from the surrounding community also signed a petition to save the schools that day, according to the news service.
This article was published in the May 2011 issue of Able News.
oh that was a nice for the disabled students .. tahnk you..
Posted by: stephen | 08/02/2011 at 05:12 AM