Assemblyman Chris Tague (R,C,I,Ref-Schoharie) has drafted a letter with his Minority colleagues in the Assembly calling on the governor to add more representatives to his “Reimagine Education Advisory Council” to make it more effective in addressing the issues facing New Yorkers with special needs. The transition to remote learning necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted students with special needs in many ways, and among the proposed members of this council there are no experts on special education. Tague says that rather than working with billionaires to make grand reforms to our education system, we should be focusing on the needs of those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For many young people with special needs in this state, adapting to remote learning is about more than being tech savvy, it’s about overcoming real challenges in changing routines and removing the nurturing element of an in-person educator from the learning process,” said Tague. “This is another example of our governor putting grand ideas before addressing the needs of those who need our help most during these trying times. This pandemic has forced people to change the way they live their lives and question the stability of their careers, communities and households, and the governor should be spending his time thinking about how we can help those who are relying on us to have their basic needs met, not how we can work with billionaires to spend taxpayer money on pie-in-the-sky pet projects.”

A copy of the letter sent to Cuomo by Assembly Minority can be found here.