[blind-democracy] Re: 25 years after

  • From: Frank Ventura <frank.ventura@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Thu, 24 Dec 2015 06:48:56 +0000

Miriam, with the average age of NYC school well over 100 years and many nearing
200 years its even worse with most lacking adequate working rest rooms for
children, proper lighting, heating and ventilation. There are even schools that
still have coal fired furnaces. PS36 on Castle Hill Avenue is a good example of
a school so old and beat up that the entire third floor even collapsed once.
But of course there is always lots of money available for heavily armed school
resource officers.
Frank

-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Miriam Vieni
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2015 9:31 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: 25 years after

When I heard this item on WNYC, I thought that it is most likely because the
city has really very old school buildings and they've never spent money to
truly update them. The school buildings in the city look very different from
those in the suburbs. The elementary schools have several stories and no
elevators.

Miriam

________________________________

From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of joe harcz Comcast
Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2015 8:42 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] 25 years after



Feds: Most NYC elementary schools violate disabilities act - Education Week

NEW YORK (AP) - A federal investigation has found that 83 percent of New York
City's public elementary schools are not fully accessible to children with

disabilities, and the nation's largest public school system is in violation of
the Americans With Disabilities Act.



In a letter addressed to the city Department of Education's top lawyer, the
office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara on Monday said the two-year investigation

also showed that six school districts, serving over 50,000 elementary students,
did not have a school that was fully accessible. The entire system serves

about 1.1 million students.



"Nowhere is it more important to tear down the barriers to equal access than
with respect to the education of our children," Bharara's office said. "But

today, in New York City, 25 years after passage of the A.D.A., children with
physical disabilities still do not have equal access to this most fundamental

of rights."



The letter describes the effect the violations had on one family that had gone
to "extreme measures" to keep a daughter enrolled in a local school instead

of making the lengthy commute to the closest "accessible school."



"A parent of this elementary school child was forced to travel to the school
multiple times a day, every school day, in order to carry her child up and

down stairs to her classroom, to the cafeteria, and to other areas of the
school in which classes and programs were held," the letter said.



The letter gives the city 30 days to respond, including an "outline and
timeline of corrective actions."



Department spokesman Harry Hartfield told The New York Times
(http://nyti.ms/1mwyQ3j) the agency was reviewing the letter and remained
"committed to increasing

the accessibility" of school buildings. He said the department was cooperating
with the investigation, adding that it has set aside $100 million for
accessibility

projects.



"Our goal is to ensure that all our students have access to a high-quality
education, and a student's disability should never get in the way of their
access

to a great school," Hartfield said.



---



Information from: The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com






Other related posts: