COMMUNITY ED COUNCIL DISTRICT 26 VOTES NO CONFIDENCE ON CARRANZA

APPROVED RESOLUTION VOTE OF NO CONFIDENCE OF NYC CHANCELLOR RICHARD CARRANZA

November 20, 2020

The Community Education Council District 26 (CEC 26) is comprised of parents who have been elected or appointed to serve as stakeholders of the district, representing over 15,000 public sschool students. The following resolution offers CEC 26's position regarding NO CONFIDENCE ON THE NEW 

YORK CITY (NYC) CHANCELLOR RICHARD CARRANZA; and

WHEREAS, the New York City Mayor did hire Richard Carranza to be the NYC Schools Chancellor on March 5, 2018; and

WHEREAS, the Chancellor's duties and responsibilities are for educating 1.1 million students in over 1,800 schools. The Chancellor is also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the NYC Department of Education as well as responsible for all New York City Public Schools; and

WHEREAS, the leadership of the New York City Department of Education Chancellor is integral to the effective execution of the mission of the New York City Department of Education; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the New York City Department of Education is that every student has a right to, and is guaranteed, a free, public school education; and

WHEREAS, included in the New York City Department of Education's mission is the Equity and Excellence for All agenda that has been central to today's improved student outcomes, including the highest-ever graduation and college enrollment rates, the lowest-ever dropout rate, and rrising scores on state tests; and

WHEREAS, The Framework for Great Schools is the primary way the Department of Education partners wiith our schools and communities. There are nine elements to this framework:

1)Rigorous and Engaging Instruction

2)Supportive Environment

3)Collaborative Teachers

4)Effective School Leadership

5)Strong Family-Community Ties

6)Collaboration and Agreement with Community Education Councils and Parent Teacher Associations

7)District Wide Policies

8)School Wide Policies 

9)Trust

WHEREAS, rigorous instruction has been set aside to accommodate the lack oof appropriate curriculum to ensure that no student will have to repeat a year of academic instruction, as well as putting in place a grading policy that does not achieve the high standards essential to the future success of our students; and

WHEREAS, many families from homes with different languages reflective of our diverse family communities, are being left with minimal support to help their children understand and advance in their education and development; and

WHEREAS, our educators are being left with minimal and untimely guidance or tools to assist iineducating our children, therefore collaboration has been ineffective; and

WHEREAS, the guidance and policies from the Chancellor's office has been minimal due to the lack of communication, leaving our school leaders with no answers for our families and for the majority of questions posed; and

WHEREAS, due to the ongoing pandemic, families have been forced to continue the struggles faced with online remote learning as well as the everyday responsibilities and hardships they face on a daily basis as well as teaching at home. The resources and partnerships that were used for support, have been taken away until further notice. Families have been left in isolation without sufficient services for struggling students. 

WHEREAS, our Parent Teacher Associations along with our Community Education Councils, were left with many unanswered questions and without proper guidance from the Chancellor's office onovirtual meetings and how to engage our school communities using the available platforms until most recently; and 

WHEREAS, without timely guidance from the Chancellor's office, the District Offices were left with many critical and unanswered questions for families; and 

WHEREAS, without timely guidance from the Chancellor's office, both District and School Wide Policies were also put on hold awaiting further guidance; and

WHEREAS, the trust that had been formed with our school communities together with our families, has been lost. Our families can no longer rely on the New York City Department of Education to provide our children their given right to an equitable and excellent education, due to the constant breaking of promises, lack of resources, and lack of transparency made to our families. These broken promises are listed below:

●High quality Remote and Blended Instruction;

●Hiring adequate licensed personnel including but not limited to teachers, nurses, guidance counselors, social-workers, psychologists, paraprofessionals, licensed service-providers and therapists necessary for current learning models;

●Free and accessible Wi-Fi for all;

●Access and technical support to working remote learning devices, printers and accessories;

●Federally Mandated services to our special-need students; 

●A safe environment for all with adequate ventilation to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus wwithin our school buildings;

●Multiple windows for families to opt in for in blended learning;

●Guidance regarding high school admission with promise of community engagement;

●Dates for Gifted and Talented as well as Specialized High School Admissions Tests;

●Support of our English Language Learners;

●Workshops for our diverse families translated accordingly to support academic as well as the social and emotional well-being of our students;

●Lastly and most importantly, Family Empowerment and engagement. Families are listed on the Department of Education Website as The CLOSEST PARTNERS in helping our 1.1 million sstudentsthrive. Our families are at a point where they feel ignored and excluded from the ongoing conversations involving the education of their children

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the Community Education Council of District 26 has no confidence in the New York City Department of Education Chancellor, Richard Carranza, to further guide the Department of Education to fulfill his duties and responsibilities to the families of the 1.1 million students enrolled within the New York City Public School System; and

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Community Education Council of District 26 calls on the Mayor of New York City Bill DeBlasio, to immediately dismiss Chancellor Richard Carranza, relieving him of his duties, and to find a competent candidate for this role to fulfill the duties and responsibilities bestowed upon the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education in partnership with the families of the 1.1 million students. 

THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the Community Education Council of District 26 calls on Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York State, to take immediate action to support and allocate resources for all our schools as a result of the failures of the New York City Department of Education as well as the failure of the New York City Department of Education Chancellor, Richard Carranza. 

This Resolution was approved on November 20, 2020 Special Meeting by a unanimous vote of members present including Adriana Aviles, Karen Rose Scutt, Cassandra Louie, Sandra Lau, John Gavros, Norman Cohn, Alan Ong, David Wong, Todd Friedman, and Dilip Nath.