BY SERIN SARSOUR
The New York City Council Committee on Education unanimously approved an expansion of the requirements for the Department of Education’s reporting on students in foster care or temporary housing in a hearing on Oct. 5.
Increasing the amount of data that the DOE releases on students in foster care or temporary housing would give NYC leaders more control over how these students are doing in school. Rita Joseph, a member of the Council and the chair of the Committee on Education, is the prime sponsor for this bill, and 23 other Council members have co-sponsored it.
“Each year, roughly 7,500 New York City students spend time in foster care, and the city continues to see a rising numbers of students in temporary housing, with over 20,000 students in temporary housing enrolled in DOE schools since last year,” said Joseph, reciting a portion of a testimony on the bill that the Committee heard earlier this year in June.
In 2016, the Council passed Local Law 142, which requires the Administration for Children’s Services to submit an annual report on the school attendance and educational continuity rates of children in the foster care system. A report for the 2021-2022 school year revealed that the average attendance rate for students in foster care was significantly lower than that of all students. The average attendance rate for children in foster care aged 5-10 was 89 percent, while those aged 16-20 had an average attendance rate of 59 percent. On the other hand, all students in all grades had an average attendance rate of 88.1 percent in the 2021-2022 school year, and a 90.43 percent average attendance rate on Oct. 4 of this year, according to NYC.gov.
Joseph highlighted that the bill’s passing would allow for greater oversight of students in the foster care system and those in temporary housing, providing NYC leaders with more access to and analysis of the metrics of these communities. As a result, leaders will have a better understanding of how to properly accommodate vulnerable students.
The bill will now go to the full Council for consideration.