A program that serves thousands of students at risk of dropping out of school could be on the chopping block as federal emergency COVID funding expires at the end of June, sources said.
The Learning to Work program receives about three-quarters of its budget — $32 million out of $40 million — from federal pandemic stimulus funding.
As New York City grapples with the costly migrant crisis, Mayor Eric Adams and the City Council have to fill the massive hole in the upcoming budget when the federal dollars disappear on June 30.
The Learning to Work program serves 16,000 students enrolled in 66 second-chance or transfer schools, 19 Young Adult Borough Centers served by 20 community-based, not-for-profit groups. Many students are behind in academic credits or have criminal records and are trying to get on track toward graduation or learn skills to get a job.
The teens with the greatest needs are being left out in the cold, said Michael De Vito, executive director of the New York Center for Interpersonal Development. The program runs three Young Adult Centers at Tottenville, McKee and Concord high schools on Staten Island. Internship programs are offered at all three sites.
“This program needs immediate attention. But we haven’t heard anything from the Department of Education about our funding other than, ‘We don’t know,'” De Vito said.
De Vito said the financial crunch due to the migrant crisis hasn’t helped matters.
“We’re being told the city has to focus on other priorities, that the city needs additional resources for the migrants,” he said. “It’s becoming political. We don’t want to be political. We want our young people taken care of.” --->READ MORE HERE
Big Apple students’ immunization rates for vaccines required for school attendance have yet to rebound to pre-pandemic levels, city health officials revealed.
In the city’s public and charter schools, 95.3% of students in grades pre-K–12 are up to date with their mandatory shots, compared to 98.5% before the COVID-19 pandemic, a health official reported.
Immunization rates are down between 2 to 16 percent compared to 2019, depending on the vaccine and age group, said Dr. Celia Quinn, deputy commissioner for disease control, during a City Council hearing Thursday.
Children ages 4-6 — or those who were infants to age 3 during the worst of the pandemic — have the biggest gap in vaccine coverage.
During the pandemic, vaccination rates declined as people delayed routine doctor’s visits, Quinn said, adding without elaboration that “vaccine misinformation and disinformation” contributed to the dip in New Yorkers getting their shots.
News of students’ diminished vaccination rates in the city has come amid rising measles cases in the country. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
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