The NYIC recognizes that at every stage of life, education matters. When children and adults are given robust opportunities to learn, they succeed in greater measure than either would alone. This is especially true for immigrant families.
Our work spans from early childhood to adult education, focusing on:
- Multi-generational education funding
- Two-generation programs
- Home Visiting programs
- Enrollment support for 3K, Pre-K, and K-12 programs
- Language access
- Family engagement in children’s education
- Supports and programming for K-12 immigrant newcomers and English Language Learners
The NYIC education program is a pioneering initiative with a track record of major wins. These successes range from fully funding Foundation Aid (New York State's school equity funding formula), securing $13 million in funding for English Language Learners in New York City schools, increasing immigrant student enrollment to 3K and Pre-K Programs, and sweeping improvements to language access and adult literacy programming for immigrant parents.
Our Coalitions:
The NYIC Education Collaborative convenes grassroots immigrant community-based organizations, advocates, and practitioners to identify challenges that immigrant youth and families face in New York’s schools. We work together to identify solutions and engage officials to improve educational outcomes for our youth.
In addition to our own collaborative, we represent immigrant students through other education coalitions, which include:
- The New York City Coalition for Adult Literacy (NYCCAL), comprised of adult literacy teachers, managers, students, and allies from community-based organizations, CUNY campuses, and library programs across NYC, advocates for an adult literacy system that provides quality, comprehensive and accessible educational services to the over 2.2 million adults (aged 18-64) in NYC who need them.
- Raising New York is a diverse statewide coalition of parent, early childhood, education, civil rights, business, and health organizations dedicated to increasing the number of children who are on track for school readiness, with a focus on improving long-term outcomes for children who are low-income, children of color, and other under-served groups.
- NY Advocates for Fair and Inclusive Resources for Multilingual Learners (NY-AFFIRMs) is a statewide coalition of diverse K-12 educators and community-based organizations focused on the needs of Multilingual Learners/English Language Learners (MLLs/ELLs) and their families. MLLs/ELLs are students who speak a language other than English at home and qualify to receive support to learn English at school.
- New Yorkers for Racially Just Public Schools (RJPS) is a citywide education justice coalition aimed at centering racial equity in policy and budget decisions for public education. Led by parents, students, educators, and advocates, we are working to influence the city and state education budget as well as policy decisions regarding schooling.