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There is no New York state office dedicated to serving the deaf and hard-of-hearing community. Now, a few lawmakers from the Hudson Valley hope to change that.
Sean Gerlis is deaf, the third generation in his family; his son is the fourth. The West Nyack, Rockland County resident, citing statistics from a number of sources, says about 50 million people in the U.S. have some degree of hearing loss, out of a population of more than 300 million. Gerlis communicates using an American Sign Language interpreter via a video relay service. He says New York has many schools for the deaf as well as resources.
State, school leaders call for universal full day pre-K for all children
News 12 Staff
Updated on:Apr 29, 2021, 5:50pm EDT
White Plains Superintendent Joseph Ricca joined state and school leaders today calling for universal full day pre-K for all children.
Studies show that the earlier kids start school, the better they do down the line. But access to free pre-K programs in the Hudson Valley boils down to who is lucky enough to get a seat.
A lottery system is how parents of pre-K-eligible children in Westchester and Rockland counties apply for free programs. Three- and 4-year-olds in the state of New York, the greatest state in the union, shouldn t be relying on lottery to get the foundational components of a high-quality education, says Ricca.
by Steve Bittenbender, The Center Square | April 21, 2021 09:30 AM Print this article
New York small business owners have endured quite an ordeal over the past 13 months thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought about emergency regulations that either closed or restricted their operations and forced them to lay off workers.
Now, as the pandemic appears to be waning, many of them received yet another unpleasant surprise: a substantial increase in their unemployment premiums. This came despite New York lawmakers passing legislation aimed to keep COVID-related closures from impacting a business owner’s rating, which factors into their premium amounts.
According to the New York State Restaurant Association, a western New York establishment still saw its rate increase by 133 percent, meaning it will pay $471 a week this year – or nearly $270 more each week. A New York City coffee shop saw its rate rise even more, meaning it will have to
Similar legislation had been introduced in the 2019 and 2020 New York Legislature but didn t get out of committee.
Those bills were sponsored by Sen. David Carlucci and Assemblywoman Ellen Jaffee, neither of whom are still in office. Reichlin-Melnick and Zebrowski said they took over shepherding the legislation and made amendments to help smooth its passage.
Changes include allowing the cost of the panic alarms to be reimbursable through state building aid funding.
The revised bill also makes room for flexibility as technology improves. That developing technology including the use of phone apps rather than costly hard-wired equipment means lower costs.
The cost estimate for statewide implementation was not available, but the Alhadeff family has reported that implementation can cost just $2,000 per school with modern technology used.
A Nyack family is teaming up with Senator Senator Elijah Reichlin-Melnick and Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski to advocate for a new bill which would require silent alarms to be installed in every public school in New York. “Alyssa’s Law”, named in honor of Alyssa Alhadeff, one of the 17 people killed during the shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School, would equip schools with panic alarms
for use in an active-shooter situation. Legislators and activists believe these alarms will save lives by reducing the response time of emergency services and providing a covert method of contacting authorities.
“Whoever saves one life saves the world” said Alyssa’s cousin Jadyn Turner, during a press conference to announce the bill. Standing side by side with her father Jordan, Senator Reichilin-Melnick and Assemblyman Zebrowski, the Nyack told the press that that quote from the Talmud has stayed with her in the years since the tragic loss of her cousin; the Turner family is champio