It is crucial that you come to the next meeting of the New York Board of Regents on Monday, September 9, in Albany. The Regents are the appointed board that sets policy for schools in New York. They do not answer to the Governor and they have great power if they choose to use it. They have passed regulations in the past to assure that small minorities remain in school, they can do that for us.

    Our demands are simple:

     The New York Constitution Article 11, Section 1 says, "The legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a system of free common schools, wherein all the children of this state may be educated."  “All” includes our children.

     The Federal government requires states to provide an education to children with disabilities, and to provide children with IEPs the services in the IEP document. There is no feasible way to provide those services to the vast majority of students except in a school setting, especially for students who have social and communication goals, which includes all children with an autism diagnosis. 

     Refusing to provide an education to children because of a fear of contagion from the child is prohibited by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, Section 504. Excluding 26,000 children from school for fear of contagion is a massive violation of Section 504.

     The New York State Health Department has completely perverted Public Health Law Section 2164, Paragraph 8, which states, “If any physician licensed to practice medicine in this state certifies that such immunization may be detrimental to a child’s health, the requirements of this section shall be inapplicable until such immunization is found no longer to be detrimental to the child’s health.” Nowhere in the law are Department of Health bureaucrats or school employees given the authority to override the professional opinion of a New York licensed treating physician and limit acceptable reasons for an exemption to arbitrary standards. We call upon the Regents to return to the original and obvious intent of the law and accept all exemptions written by licensed New York physicians.

     Please click on the Take Action Link to send an email to the Regents, Chancellor Betty Rosa and Acting Education Commissioner Beth Berlin. But before you do that if you value the information and advocacy brought to you by the Autism Action Network please support us here https://grouprev.com/autismactionnetwork2019  in our one fundraising event of the year we do in conjunction with the Autism Community Walk at Belmont Lake State Park, Babylon. NY on Sunday, October 20.

     This is where you want to be on Monday, September 9:

New York Board of Regents

New York State Education Department

89 Washington Avenue, 12234

Directions: http://www.nysed.gov/about/driving-directions

     Meeting begins at 9 am. Doors to the Education building open at 8 am. Prepare for a slow security check-in, bring picture ID. The hearing room is very small (60 seats) so get there early.

Bring friends, family, and your germy kids. Most of us won’t get in, but that’s the point. It will be an educational day for them. Wear white, it makes a powerful statement.

    The agenda for the meeting is supposed to be public on Friday. We do not know if our issues are on the agenda, but that doesn’t matter, we need to be seen and make our presence felt.

     At some time yet to be determined, we will be bearing witness to the injustices being done with a march to the New York State Department of Health Building in Corning Tower, two short blocks from the Education Department building.

Additional Action to Take

     We requested that you do this last week and if you have not yet done it,  please immediately write a polite letter to the Regents describing how denying an education to your children will do irreparably harm to them and your family.  If you wrote an affidavit for the Sussman trial you can use that as a model.

     Everybody in the state should snail mail and email copies of your letter to Chancellor Betty Rosa, Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown, and all the Members at Large (Reyes, Young, Norwood and Cottrell.) Then check below to see which Regent represents your county and mail and email copies to her or him as well.

     Note: Chancellor Rosa is the Regent for Judicial District 12, which is the Bronx, and Vice Chancellor Brown is the Regent for the 7th Judicial district (check below for the exact counties in the Rochester area)

Regents' Contact Information

Betty A. Rosa

Chancellor, 12th Judicial District, Bronx County

Regents Office

State Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12234

Regent.Rosa@nysed.gov

T. Andrew Brown

Vice Chancellor, 7th Judicial District, Wayne, Monroe, Livingston, Ontario, Yates, Seneca, Cayuga, Steuben Counties

925 Crossroads Building

Two State Street

Rochester, NY 14614

Regent.Brown@nysed.gov

Luis O. Reyes

Member, Member at Large

Regents Office

State Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12234

Regent.Reyes@nysed.gov

Lester W. Young, Jr.

Member, Member at Large

55 Hanson Place, Suite 400

Brooklyn, NY 11217

Regent.Young@nysed.gov

Wade S. Norwood,

Member at Large,

74 Appleton Street

Rochester, NY 14611

Regent.Norwood@nysed.gov

James E. Cottrell, MD

Member, Member at Large

SUNY Downstate Medical Center

450 Clarkson Avenue - Box 6

Brooklyn, N.Y. 11203-2098

Regent.Cottrell@nysed.gov

Find below which Regent represents your county and mail and email her of him a copy of your letter.

Manhattan, Nan Eileen Mead

Member, 1st Judicial District, Manhattan/New York County

116 West 32nd Street, 6th Floor

New York, NY 10001

Regent.Mead@nysed.gov

212-643-3039

Brooklyn, Kathleen M. Cashin

Member, 2nd Judicial District, Brooklyn/Kings County

Regents Office

State Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12234

Regent.Cashin@nysed.gov

(518) 474-5889

Josephine Victoria Finn

Member, 3rd Judicial District, Schoharie, Albany, Rensselaer, Greene, Columbia, Sullivan and Ulster counties

Regents Office

State Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12234

Regent.Finn@nysed.gov

(518) 474-5889

Beverly L. Ouderkirk

Member, 4th Judicial District, Washington, Saratoga, Montgomery, Schnectady, Fulton, Hamilton, Warren, Essex, Clinton, Franklin, St. Lawrence counties

303 Main Street

Morristown, NY 13664

Regent.Ouderkirk@nysed.com

(315) 375-8596

Elizabeth S. Hakanson

Member, 5th Judicial District, Jefferson, Oswego, Onondaga, Oneida, Lewis, and Herkimer Counties

Regents Office

State Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, N.Y. 12234

Regent.Hakanson@nysed.gov

(518) 474-5889

Susan W. Mittler

Member, 6th Judicial District, Delaware, Otsego, Madison, Chenango, Cortland, Broome, Tompkins, Tioga, Schuyler, Chemung counties

Regents Office

State Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY, 12234

Regent.Mittler@nysed.gov

(518) 474-5889

Catherine Collins

Member, 8th Judicial District, Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany, Erie, Wyoming, Genesee, Orleans, Niagara counties

508 Main Street

Buffalo, NY 14202

Regent.Collins@nysed.gov

(518) 474-5889

Judith Johnson

Member, 9th Judicial District, Westchester, Rockland, Orange, Putnam, Dutchess counties

Regents Office

State Education Building,

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12234

Regent.Johnson@nysed.gov

(518) 474-5889

Long Island, Roger Tilles

Member, 10th Judicial District, Nassau and Suffolk Counties

Lorber Hall, Room 211

Long Island University Post

720 Northern Boulevard

Brookville, NY 11548

Regent.Tilles@nysed.gov

(516) 299-3505

Queens, Judith Chin

Member, 11th Judicial District, Queens County

Regents Office

State Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12234

Regent.Chin@nysed.gov

(518) 474-5889

Staten Island, Christine D. Cea

Member, 13th Judicial District, Staten Island/Richmond County

Regents Office

State Education Building

89 Washington Avenue

Albany, NY 12234

Regent.Cea@nysed.gov

(518) 474-5889

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Autism Action Network <jgilmore@autismactionnetwork.org>