Our Mission

​The members of the Action for Reform in Special Education (ARISE) Coalition have joined together to provide a collective and powerful voice in support of students with disabilities and learning differences in New York City public schools. We seek to improve day-to-day experiences and long-term outcomes for these students and champion systemic reform to:

• Improve services and support for students with disabilities and learning differences;
• Assure meaningful inclusion and integration;
• Promote greater transparency and accountability;
• Mitigate practices that lead to discrimination and disproportionality in rates of referral, suspension, and segregated placements; and
• Increase positive outcomes and options for all students. 

View our agenda for change or our past publications.

Stay connected

Supporting Organizations and Individuals

• Adaptive Design Association
• Advocates for Children of New York
• AHRC New York City
• The Bronx Defenders
• Bronx Independent Living Services
• Brooklyn Center for the Independence of the Disabled
• Brooklyn Defender Services
• Center for Hearing and Communication
• Center for the Independence of the Disabled, New York
• Citizens’ Committee for Children of New York 
• Citywide Council on High Schools
• Citywide Council on Special Education
• Citywide District 75 Council
• Coalition for Educational Justice
• Collaborative for Inclusive Education
• The Cooke School and Institute
• Disability Rights New York
• Dylexia Advocacy Action Group
• Dyslexia (Plus) Task Force
• Everyone Reading, Inc.
• Extreme Kids & Crew
• ​The Go Project
• Goddard Riverside Community Center
• INCLUDEnyc
• ​The Learning Disabilities Association of New York State
• Lenox Hill Neighborhood House
• The Mental Health Association of New York
• Metropolitan Parent Center of Sinergia, Inc.
• Mobilization for Justice, Inc.
• National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
• New Alternatives for Children
• New York Lawyers for the Public Interest
• New York Legal Assistance Group
• New York Performance Standards Consortium
• Parents for Inclusive Education
• Parent to Parent of New York State
• Parent to Parent New York, Inc.
• ​Partnership for the Homeless, Education Rights Project
• Promise Project
• Protect NYC Special Education (Proteger la Educacion Especial de NYC)
• Special Support Services, LLC
• Teachers College Inclusive Classrooms Project
• Teach For America – New York
• United Federation of Teachers
• United For Brownsville


• United We Stand
• Unity Preparatory Charter School of Brooklyn
• Vibrant Emotional Health
• Wishes of Literacy

• Ursula Abbott Connolly
• Cathy Albisa
• Steven J. Alizio, Esq., M.S.Ed
• Mark Alter, Steinhardt School of Culture, Education & Human Development, New York University
• Celia M Blackman
• ​David C. Bloomfield, Professor of Education, Brooklyn College and The CUNY Graduate Center
• Bay Brown
• Heather Clarke Mackin
• Ted Chang
• María Cioè-Peña, MSEd, Ph.D, Assistant Professor of Educational Foundations at Montclair State University
• Tamesha Coleman
• Ziograin (Zio) Correa, Sr., M.S.Ed
• April Coughlin, School of Education, SUNY New Paltz
• Susan Crawford, Director, The Right to Read Project
• Sahre Davis, Parent/Community Advocate
• Ruth DiRoma
• Richard and Lora Ellenson
• Yuvania Espino
• Charissa Fernandez
• Esther Klein Friedman, Ph. D
• Ramona Garcia
• Olga C. Gonzalez
• Jay Gottlieb, New York University
• Tiesha Groover
• Emily Hellstrom
• Paul Hutchinson
• Patricia Jewett
• Donna Johnson
• Revere Joyce
• Joseph Karam
• Jeannine Kiely
• Laura Kennedy
• Rebecca Kostyuchenko
• Mylinda Lee
• NeQuan C. McLean 
• Aurelia Mack
• Matthew Mandelbaum
• Shelly McGuinness
• Diana Mendez
• Elise Murphy
• Srikala Naraian, Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Teachers College, Columbia University
• Dana Neider
• Michelle Noris
• Kathleen Nowak
• Jaclyn Okin Barney, Esq.
• Samantha Pownall
• Cathy Rikhye, Ed.D., Department of Curriculum and Teaching, Teachers College, Columbia University 
• Raphael Rivas
• Melanie Rivera-Mora
• Marilyn Rubinstein  ​
• Miguel L. Salazar
• Jennifer and Peter Sellar
• Iriss Shimony
• Jon Sigall
• Jo Anne Simon, Jo Anne Simon, P.C.
• Karin Spraggs
• Mark Surabian, MA, ATP, Instructor, Assistive Technologies, Pace Graduate School of Education
• Tanzea Taylor
• Constance Van Rolleghen
• Catherine Voulgarides, Assistant Professor of Special Education, City University of New York (CUNY)--Hunter College
• RueZalia Watkins
• Chevion Weaks-Lopez, Queens High School Presidents' Council
• Abraham Weitzman