Community Education Council - District One

CEC 1 MISSION STATEMENT

The District One Community Education Council's mission is to help District One (“D1”) families and educators to exercise self-determination and local control over education policy and practices and to participate in decision-making at the level of family, school and community. To further this goal, we organize public meetings and hearings; provide a forum for parents to bring their concerns, and produce analyses and policy proposals which collectively serve to bridge the gap between the DOE, state and federal "rhetoric" and the reality in our district schools.

Our key areas of focus for the 2016-2017 school year were to:

* Work to help meet Middle School needs of D1 families;

* Monitor the impact of the DOE Special Education Reforms in D1 and citywide;

* Advocate for an equitable district-wide admissions policy for our schools that reflects the diversity within D1; examine the efficacy and coherence of offering local gifted and talented  programs in light of the implementation of common core curriculums and standards; support the planning, implementation, and the goals of D1’s SIPP grant;

* Address space and building issues, including: prioritizing D1 needs for the Capital Plan; revising the Blue Book; evaluating overcrowding; evaluating the effects of co-locations; and advocating for a new D1 school in the SPURA development;

* Examine the effects of excessive High Stakes Standardized Testing on students and the D1 community;

* Advocate for small class sizes throughout the system;

* Explore new dual language programs for D1;

* Ensure parental involvement in school governance by supporting and strengthening meaningful participation in D1’s SLTs, P(T)As, DLT, Presidents’ Council and CEC by all families of elementary, middle, and high schools, including new schools and Charter Schools, and;

* Educate families on the educational governance structure, including mayoral control.

We believe that a democratically-elected body of parents and community members can best represent the interests of the families in D1, and all of our activities support this fundamental belief.