BP Adams To Advocate With Charter School Parents For Keeping Parental Choice
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams today alongside dozens of parents, teachers, and administrators from charter schools citywide to advocate for maintaining parental choice through continued equal access to the City’s third-party direct-mail vendor, a policy that is currently being reviewed by City Hall.
Currently, DOE allows charter schools to utilize Department of Education (DOE) services and send informational mailings to prospective parents in their neighborhood at the charter school’s own expense. Since charter schools are alternative public schools, many parents are unaware that these are options that are open to them.
The DOE contracts with a third-party vendor called Vanguard (a separate and distinct organization from the large brokerage firm with the same name). Vanguard handles agency mass mailings of all kinds, including notifying parents in DOE schools about a variety of things.
This policy is being reviewed by the De Blasio Administration, which would stop parents from finding out about all their public school options, including public charter schools. Last Thursday, Mayor de Blasio and the DOE were set to quietly reverse the longstanding policy that would have limited parents’ ability to find out about local public charter school options. But according to the most recent reports, the city has indicated publicly that it has tabled the plan and that no decisions have been made.
At the event, Adams will also propose a new option for parents to be able to opt out of mailings.
The event is slated for 10 a.m., today, April 17, on the Steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan.
Frontus Applauds Passage of Legislation Protecting Victims of Sex Crimes, Domestic Abuse
Assembly member Mathylde Frontus (D-Coney Island, Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights) yesterday announced that she helped pass a comprehensive legislative package supporting and protecting victims of crimes such as human trafficking, rape and domestic violence.
The Assembly’s legislative package includes:
- Bill A. 4054: a measure to alleviate the financial burden on victims and their families, including allowing courts to direct all or a portion of antitrust fines to the Office of Victim Services (OVS), which will create another revenue source to fund its victims’ assistance and victims’ award program
- Bill A.2566: a bill to make domestic partners of homicide victims eligible for crime victims’ compensation and expands benefits to include out-of-pocket expenses like counseling
- Bill A.7079: legislation to expand eligibility for awards from OVS to victims of unlawful surveillance and dissemination of an unlawful surveillance, including victims of revenge porn
- Bill A.7051: legislation that expands recoveries for child victims who endure or witness certain violations. Under current law, child victims must be a victim or witness to a misdemeanor or felony to receive an OVS award, which can cover expenses such as mental health counseling or transportation to court appearances.
- Bill A.794-B: a measure supporting victims of rape and sexual assault by removing the penetration requirement from the definition of rape. The bill also expands the definition to include other forms of nonconsensual sexual conduct currently recognized by the law only as “criminal sexual acts”
- Bill A.459-A: legislation exempts those convicted of a prostitution offense or who are identified as victims of trafficking from having to provide a DNA sample to be included in the state database if the offense was a result of being a victim of human trafficking
- Bill A.2665-A: a bill protecting the right of crime victims or tenants to report criminal acts, including domestic violence, without fear of losing their housing as a result of landlord actions or local nuisance laws
“With this being National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, it’s especially timely to let victims know that we’re standing behind them. Nothing will ever be able to erase the trauma they’ve faced, but here in New York, we’re making sure that our laws don’t cause undue hardship during an already trying time,” said Frontus.
“Victims of sexual violence and human trafficking have already experienced unspeakable pain without facing barriers in the criminal justice system every step of the way. For them to see their abusers walk free because of a technicality or be treated like criminals themselves is the definition of injustice – it’s time to recognize that in a court of law,” added Frontus.
Espinal To Bring OATH’s Neighborhood Pop-Up Court To ENY
City Council member Rafael Espinal (D-Bushwick, East New York) today will announce that the NYC Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings’ (OATH) Neighborhood Pop-Up Court for City-issued summonses will come to East New York.
OATH has held a dozen Pop-Up Courts around the City,this represents only the third Pop-Up Court in Brooklyn. The program was first announced last June with the aim of making it easier for New York City residents to resolve summonses.
The event is slated for 10:30 a.m., today, April 17, at 1945 Broadway in East New York.
The pop-up court is scheduled to open on Wednesday, April 24 in Council District 36.
Adams To Rally Support Behind Drivers Licenses For All NYers
Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams and members of the Green Light NY coalition, a network of more than 200 organizations statewide including Make the Road New York, will rally local support behind the Driver’s License Access and Privacy Act.
The bill would expand access to drivers’ licenses for all state residents, regardless of their immigration status. Currently, 752,000 undocumented immigrant New Yorkers over the age of 16 are barred from obtaining driver’s licenses due to their immigration status, and more than 70,000 additional residents who currently have Temporary Protected Status (TPS) or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals are at risk of losing access to their driver’s licenses.
Joined by impacted immigrant New Yorkers and elected officials, Adams and the Green Light NY coalition will highlight how A.03675/S.01747 would improve public safety by promoting greater trust with local authorities and awareness of traffic laws, as well as benefit the economy through an estimated $57 million in combined annual revenue plus lower insurance premiums for all drivers.
The event is part of Adams office’s own special observance of an Immigrant Day of Friendship on the plaza outside Brooklyn Borough Hall.
The event is slated for 11:15 a.m., today, April 17, at Brooklyn Borough Hall-Plaza, 209 Joralemon Street in Downtown Brooklyn.
