NEW YORK, N.Y. (October 1, 2025) — In response to NYC Public Schools Chancellor Melissa Avilés-Ramos’ announcement of a new tool and renewed efforts to reform the Community Education Council (CEC) election process, the public education advocacy organization Alliance for Quality Education released the following statement:
“Chancellor Avilés-Ramos has shown a clear commitment to listening to feedback and taking action. After hearing directly from parent leaders about their concerns on Community Education Council elections, she and her team pledged to tackle longstanding issues including ballot inaccuracies, weak community outreach, and a lack of transparency,” said Marina Marcou-O’Malley and Zakiyah Shaakir-Ansari, Co-Executive Directors, Alliance for Quality Education.
“For years, AQE and parent leaders have been vocal about the shortcomings of CEC elections, which have been plagued by errors and failures that have weakened both family engagement and the integrity of the process.
“At her State of the Schools address, the Chancellor thanked AQE for our contributions and announced the rollout of an online tool that will make data, such as NYCSA registration rates by district, publicly accessible. This new measure will help strengthen accountability within CEC elections and across the system more broadly.
“We welcome this as an important building block toward creating authentic community and family engagement, which requires bold, systemic transformation. Real change comes through collaboration and open communication. At AQE, we remain committed to building a system that truly empowers families to lead, and we affirm that Community Education Councils remain one of the most direct avenues for meaningful parent leadership in this current form of school governance.”