WHEREAS, the word "equity" is used often by NYC Mayor Adams and NYC Schools Chancellor Banks when they speak about education in our city, AND

WHEREAS, when NYC Schools Chancellor Bank first took the job, he publicly recognized that there are learning disparities for our students with disabilities and for our students who are English Language Learners (Ell's), 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, our students with disabilities are among those who are the most vulnerable and the most affected by our current public health crisis, AND

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

WHEREAS, as educators, we take very seriously our responsibilities under New York State Education Department Commissioner's Regulations (C.R.), Part 154, which governs the required MUELL instruction in the State of 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 (SWDs) and English Language Learners (Ells) with their legally-mandated instruction and classes,

THEREFORE SO BE IT RESOLVED, that the United Federation of Teachers calls for greater oversight by the NYC DOE to ensure full compliance with our students' special education mandates, our students' necessary C.R. Part 154 MUELL instruction, as well as the full funding necessary for schools to carry out 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

FlNALLY RESOLVED, that we also urge the New York City Council to demand transparency and accountability from the NYC DOE in publicly reporting on its progress toward meeting the requirements of the New York State Corrective Action Plan (CAP) and moving forward with urgency and efficiency to finally provide our city's students with disabilities with the education they deserve.