Susan Horwitz, Supervising Attorney of the Education Law Project at The Legal Aid Society, issued the following statement in response to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s announcement that the City would install Wi-Fi in every homeless shelter after reports that students were not able to access virtual learning as a result of shoddy internet:
“The devil is in the details, and while we welcome this announcement, too much time has passed with too little action for us to accept it at face value.
“We have yet to receive any concrete implementation information from City Hall and are thus far left only with the Mayor’s limited remarks from yesterday’s press briefing. Until Mayor de Blasio and his Administration disclose the specifics of this plan and take meaningful steps to implement it, our young clients will struggle to access remote learning and lose valuable instruction time, while exposing their parents to possible intervention from ACS. Clearly, the consequences of continued inaction could prove devastating for these already vulnerable families.
“We demand answers, and call on Mayor Bill de Blasio to disclose his plan’s details at his press briefing later this morning. City Hall should have addressed this issue at the start of the pandemic several months ago; any further delay is indefensible, and we are prepared to act decisively should the City fail to provide our clients the resources that they deserve.”
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About The Legal Aid Society
The Legal Aid Society exists for one simple yet powerful reason: to ensure that New Yorkers are not denied their right to equal justice because of poverty. For over 140 years, we have protected, defended, and advocated for those who have struggled in silence for far too long. Every day, in every borough, The Legal Aid Society changes the lives of our clients and helps improve our communities.
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