Community Education Councils, parents meet at UFT

Standing up for kids

PUBLISHED JUNE 23, 2011

Miller PhotographyAmong those to turn out for the meeting are (from left) George E.M. Gibson, the president of the NAACP - Corona East-Elmhurst; T. Elzora Cleveland, president of the District 2 CEC; Denise Sullivan of the Citywide Education Council on High Schools; Almeta Trammel of CEC District 7; and William McDonald of the NAACP, and (seated) Bronx parent Constance Asiedu.

The mayor’s proposed teacher layoffs and the recent UFT, NAACP and parent lawsuit against the Department of Education for closing schools and inequitable co-locations were among the hot topics discussed by parent leaders at a May 23 meeting at UFT headquarters. Members of the city’s 32 Community Education Councils, the Chancellor’s Parent Advisory Council and the four Citywide Education Councils that advocate on behalf of high schools, English language learners and special education students came to discuss their local issues and citywide policies with each other and union leaders during the meeting.

Miller PhotographyJaya Bea Smalley, co-chair of the Citywide Education Council on Special Education, makes a point.

UFT Director of Parent and Community Outreach Anthony Harmon welcomed the parent leaders to the meeting and thanked them for their involvement in public education. UFT President Michael Mulgrew provided perspective on the union’s fight against the unnecessary, politically motivated layoffs.

If those layoffs were to happen, parents agreed, it would devastate schools throughout the city, as class sizes are already at the breaking point.

Mulgrew and Harmon said they appreciated the cooperation and collaboration of parent leaders in standing up for what’s right for children in their districts and regions and discussed upcoming opportunities to work together for the good of schoolchildren throughout the five boroughs.

Read more: Around the UFT articles