WHEREAS, the word "equity" is used often by Mayor Eric Adams and Schools Chancellor David C. Banks when they speak about education in our city; and

WHEREAS, when Chancellor Banks first took the job, he publicly recognized that there are learning disparities for  students with disabilities and students who are English language learners as well as for our students who are multilingual learners. He said, "This is the biggest equity issue we confront, and we are going to tackle it;" and

WHEREAS, students with disabilities are among the most vulnerable and the most affected by our current public health crisisl and

WHEREAS, as educators, we take seriously the legal mandate we uphold to provide students with disabilities with a free appropriate public education; and

WHEREAS, as educators, we take seriously our responsibilities under state education Regulations (C.R.), Part 154, which governs the required MUELL instruction in New York; and

WHEREAS, in the long term, a commitment to examining the costs and benefits of the per-student funding model and other aspects of the Fair Student Funding formula is urgently needed, and it is particularly urgent that school funding be sufficient to hire the number of teachers required to provide students with disabilities and English language learners with their legally mandated instruction and classes; therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the UFT calls for greater oversight by the DOE to ensure full compliance with students' special education mandates and their necessary C.R. Part 154 MUELL instruction, as well as the full funding necessary for schools to achieve this compliance and an intense push for the recruitment and hiring of additional special education teachers, ENL teachers, bilingually-certified teachers and other support staff; and be it further

RESOLVED, that we urge the New York City Council to demand transparency and accountability from the DOE in publicly reporting on its progress toward meeting the requirements of the New York State Corrective Action Plan and moving forward with urgency and efficiency to finally provide students with disabilities in New York City public schools with the education they deserve.