Goals and Objectives

The Mayor or the Chancellor of the Department of Education must:

• Issue a strong policy statement that all new schools in New York City must be accessible to all the students, regardless of their disabilities
• Promote an inclusion policy, which, among other things, (i) ensures that all students with disabilities have opportunities within the educational programs to interact with their nondisabled peers; and (ii) makes clear that principals and general education teachers are part of the special education system and bound by students’Individualized Education Programs (IEPs);
• Establish guidelines that ensure clear promotional standards are set for all students. Such guidelines should includeinformation and training to parents about their student’s graduation and diploma objectives.
• Implement mandatory training for DOE employees, at every level, which educates individuals on how to comply withleast restrictive environment (LRE) requirements.
• Ensures that all IEPs and allocated resources promote the goal of inclusion.
• Adopt increased flexibility standards regarding the role of the paraprofessionals and the process of assigning paraprofessionals to particular students