I am the mom of a five-year old with autism who attends a special education school in Brooklyn. When the ATU Local 1181 Union decided to go on strike on January 16th, my son and thousands of children were affected. The DOE has offered metro cards and travel reimbursements but these options are not feasible for every family. Some of our kids have to travel 20 plus miles to get to school. With travel costs averaging in the hundreds per week, coming up with such an amount is challenging for most working families. What concerns me, is the City and the Unions have drawn their lines in the sand and our children are suffering. According to figures released by the DOE, special needs student attendance dropped from 83% to 49% since the strike began. Join me in signing this petition to have the mayor, chancellor and union leaders come to table and work this out. If a judge needs to intervene then so be it. This strike has to end now. We need experienced and caring drivers and matrons taking our children to and from school each day. Thank you.
