City's Education Councils Seek Reforms in Message to the New Mayor
Education Councils representing parents citywide have signed on to a letter to Mayor-elect de Blasio. In this unprecedented show of unity, the Councils have issued a statement to de Blasio raising concerns in numerous areas, including the decision-making processes put in place by the Bloomberg administration. A copy of the letter is below.
The statement calls for, among other things, reform of the Panel for Education Policy, a return to a Community School District structure, serious changes to the way that decisions are made concerning the space allocations to schools and future construction and educational programming, and reversal of the contested co-locations approved by Bloomberg’s Panel for Education Policy late this year.
The statement seeks immediate review of the City’s assessment and delivery of special education services. In addition, the statement seeks parental and community input into the selection of the next chancellor, urges the City to follow state law concerning payment of rent for charter school co-locations, seeks engagement on the Common Core, seeks a moratorium on the use of standardized testing in high-stakes decisions, and asks the mayor-elect to protect student privacy.
