Reforming Parental Engagement

To:  New York State Legislators

State Capital
Albany, New York 12248

Dear State Legislator:

In 2003, the Legislature created Community Education Councils (CECs) to provide an opportunity for meaningful participation for both parents and the community in the New York City school system. As the sunset date for the current school governance law approaches, it is time to consider how the parental input system has met these stated goals.

CECs are supposed be consulted on citywide and local issues by the Department of Education (DOE), but the terms of that consultation is unclear and members say that they are rarely informed, much less consulted, on important district issues and proposals. The Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer has proposed a far-reaching revision of state education law that would make CECs more independent from the city’s DOE, with more clearly defined roles in the school system. The plan would reform CECs to make them function more like Community Boards, with greater independence from the City’s executive branch and a Uniform Parental Engagement Procedure (UPEP) providing opportunities for hearings and input on specific timelines. The plan could save as much as $5 million in city budget funds every year by transferring to the city’s five borough presidents the training and supervision of local education councils.

We can and must insist on accountability in the schools, but the system works best when public school parents are at the table. CECs must be reformed and empowered to be the voice that public school parents and school communities need and deserve. We urge you to support this proposal.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Reforming Parental Engagement Petition to New York State Legislators was created by and written by Cuong Nguyen (cnguyen@manhattanbp.org).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.