The Children's Agenda

06/03/2026

Shout out to Tianna Johnson, Very Invested Parent and childcare advocate, and Wyatt Newton, Advocacy Intern, for representing The Children’s Agenda today at the Community Fair at #8 Roberto Clemente Elementary school!

06/03/2026

As the State legislature winds up its session, our team has provided a detailed assessment of how our key priority areas fared in the 2026-27 enacted budget. Overall, we're celebrating some significant wins for children and families, and yet some children and families - and the workforce caring for them - are still being left behind.

We are profoundly grateful for the partnership of parent leaders, advocates, organizational allies, and funders who make progress possible. Read the full statement on our website: https://thechildrensagenda.org/publications/tcas-statement-on-the-nys-2026-27-enacted-budget/

05/28/2026

While there's much to celebrate in the historic investments that NYS is making in child care this year, we're also looking ahead at what is still needed. Kudos to Rockefeller Institute of Government for this detailed analysis on why investments in the workforce matter.

New York’s FY 2027 budget expands Universal Pre-K and childcare access, but success will depend on growing and supporting the early care and education workforce.

05/22/2026

Diane found her voice through The Children's Agenda's Very Invested Parents program – and our supporters helped make that possible. She's testified at hearings, met with city and state officials, and shown them that families aren't just recipients of policy. They're the ones who should be shaping it.

05/15/2026

While we are glad that the Rochester City School District Administration responded to our advocacy by restoring some of the previously cut positions for social work, guidance counseling and Home/Hospital Instruction, we are deeply disappointed with the process leading up to the vote which ended up adopting budget cuts to these urgently needed programs while other programs remained untouched or were even increased. This speaks to a central concern of ours during the budget deliberations: Too often the decisions to cut certain programs were presented as a fiscal necessity rather than a choice and set of spending priorities.

Read more in this story from WXXI News
https://www.wxxinews.org/local-news/2026-05-15/education-leaders-advocates-weigh-in-on-rcsds-passed-budget-for-2026-27

Or our full statement here: https://thechildrensagenda.org/publications/tcas-response-to-the-rcsd-2026-27-budget-vote/

Skepticism and doubt remain after the Rochester city school board passed — by a margin of one vote — a $1.16 billion budget that many community members, staff and parents opposed.

05/13/2026

When infants or toddlers receive speech, occupational and physical therapy through Early Intervention (EI) before age 3, they are significantly more likely to meet proficiency standards in third grade language arts and math.

Pediatricians Dennis Kuo and Megan Tracy in Western NY call on state lawmakers to invest early. Their op-ed was published this morning in The Buffalo News. You can read the original article at https://buffalonews.com/opinion/article_a298b55a-a2e7-4653-a9d1-a76042eaba81.html

Advocates across NY continue to sound the alarm about the waitlist and provider shortage crisis in EI program due to decades of underfunding. You can do the same right now by sending a letter to lawmakers: https://secure.everyaction.com/NDvfSrJd3keOjmc8Ki2hDg2

When infants or toddlers receive speech, occupational and physical therapy through Early Intervention (EI) before age 3, they are significantly more likely to meet proficiency standards in third grade language arts and math.

Pediatricians Dennis Kuo and Megan Tracy in Western NY call on state lawmakers to invest early. Their op-ed was published this morning in The Buffalo News. You can read the original article at https://buffalonews.com/opinion/article_a298b55a-a2e7-4653-a9d1-a76042eaba81.html

or go to https://thechildrensagenda.org/2026/05/13/another-voice-early-intervention-makes-all-the-difference-with-children/

05/13/2026

Advocates across NY continue to sound the alarm about the waitlist and provider shortage crisis in EI program due to decades of underfunding. You can do the same right now by sending a letter to lawmakers: https://secure.everyaction.com/NDvfSrJd3keOjmc8Ki2hDg2

When infants or toddlers receive speech, occupational and physical therapy through Early Intervention (EI) before age 3, they are significantly more likely to meet proficiency standards in third grade language arts and math.

Pediatricians Dennis Kuo and Megan Tracy in Western NY call on state lawmakers to invest early. Their op-ed was published this morning in The Buffalo News. You can read the original article at https://buffalonews.com/opinion/article_a298b55a-a2e7-4653-a9d1-a76042eaba81.html

or go to https://thechildrensagenda.org/2026/05/13/another-voice-early-intervention-makes-all-the-difference-with-children/

05/11/2026

It's Advocacy Day for the Solutions Not Suspensions campaign, and 38 parents, youth, and advocates from Rochester boarded the bus at 6am to head to Albany. Let's make 2026 the year that lawmakers PASS the SNS Bill!

05/08/2026

Friends, it's our last chance to impact the upcoming RCSD budget before the vote on May 12th. The Superintendent is choosing to cut social workers, guidance counselors, restorative coaches, and food service workers because he wants to focus on test scores.

But academics do not improve when students are struggling with mental health issues, being kicked out of school because of suspensions, or unable to concentrate because they are hungry.

Tell the Board that we need to restore these positions if we want ALL students to truly succeed. Send one last email TODAY https://secure.everyaction.com/N34q5HPDk0C6GZp5WcbzMg2
and ask your friends to do the same!