Community Education Council District 2 News

The CECD2’s Response to the Department of Education’s 2005-2009 Capital Plan was drafted and submitted by council member Kevin Loving. Read Document (word document)

On Lobby Day in Albany, March 13, the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council (CPAC) took 1,700 parents, students and educators to meet with our city and state representatives. It was a great District 2 effort and a recognizable demonstration of community strength. Issues addressed included: parent empowerment; mayoral control of the schools; class size reduction; English Language Learners; cell phone ban; charter schools; and high-stakes testing.

Stuyvesant High School Parent Association Executive Board passed a resolution rejecting the Mayor’s and Chancellor’s Schools Reorganization. The resolution states, in part, “the Stuyvesant High School Parents’ Association cannot support the DOE Children First proposal and calls upon the Mayor and Chancellor to postpone implementation of this plan and immediately call public hearings on the priorities for education spending and restructuring of the New York City public schools.”

Schools Chancellor Klein announced a five-year, $80 million contract granted to I.B.M. to develop a vast new storehouse of educational data to track the individual progress of the city’s 1.1 million students. This data storehouse will be a major step towards establishing tools to hold principals accountable for the results of their schools. Some New York City council members have expressed concerns about the $80 million contract. See the New York Times article.

For an educator’s perspective on the new IBM contract, see “Improving Schools” by former District 2 Community Superintendent Shelley Harwayne: http://ncteelem.blogspot.com/index.html

For more information, see the Chancellor’s press release and IBM’s press release:

CECD2 presented an outstanding panel of Differentiated Learning Specialists, moderated by Community School Superintendent Daria Rigney: Ada Cordova, Regional early childhood Literacy specialist; Brenda McDonough, Region Nine Intervention Director for school-based Academic Intervention services; Chuck McEvoy, Instructional specialist in Special Education and former Special Education Supervisor; and Kelly Shannon, PS 41 Principal, discussing the role of the school-based Pupil Personnel Team.

Chancellor Klein’s third reorganization of NYC public schools was announced in January 2007 and will go into effect on July 1, 2007, when all regional offices will be closed. All NYC public schools must choose a “School Support Organization by early May. The regional offices will be replaced by four geographically-located “Integrated Service Centers.” Did you know (more…)