On this page: Parents' associations | Leadership teams | District councils

Parents' associations

If you're interested in rolling up your sleeves and bringing about positive change in your school, consider getting involved in your PTA (Parent Teacher Assocation) or Parents Association (PA). PTAs do much more than hold the odd bake sale. They write grants to bring in added funding, arrange workshops on curriculum or held coordinate after-school programs, for example.

Every public school must have a PA, which functions as semi-independent organization, run by parents but supported by the school. A PA can be creative with its activities as long as they support the educational, social or cultural programs of schools.

If you are already involved in your school's PA, but have questions about how it is supposed to work, there is a regulation on parents' associations you can read. (Consider yourself warned: it's 50 pages long). You can find the regulation at: http://docs.nycenet.edu/dscgi/admin.py/Get/File-459/A-660.pdf.
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Leadership teams

School Leadership Teams (SLTs) bring together parents, administrators, and teachers to create the school’s education plan and write its budget.. Representation on the team must be balanced: 50% parents, 50% school personnel. Required members of the team also include the school principal; the chapter leader from the teachers' union, the United Federation of Teachers; and the president of the parents' association. Other members are chosen by election. SLTs should develop, or revise, the school's Comprehensive Educational Plan, a document written yearly that spells out the educational direction of the school. The team also should write the school's budget.

SLT members can also create special opportunities for their school. In a school in Queens, parents on the leadership team applied for a grant that won funds for art workshops for parents and kids.

How effectively these teams work and how meaningfully parents are involved in the teams depends on the school. Many school teams flourish, but many parents complain that their team meetings are not taken seriously by principals who continue to make decisions on their own. If you are an SLT member who feels parents are not valued members of the team, there are people and groups who can help empower parents on the team. Start with your Learning Support Team and then, if necessary, reach out to the department’s Office of Parent and Community Engagement. The New York Urban League also works with the schools to support leadership teams.

If you want to find out more about the SLT at your child's school, begin attending its meetings, which are supposed to be open. The Department of Education's website has useful information about SLTs, including the state law that governs the teams, the chancellor’s plan and an excellent FAQ on leadership teams.

Title I teams exist in many schools that receive Title I money – federal funds for schools that have many low-income students. These teams are charged with planning how to use Title I funds for school-wide programs. Because the law allows School Leadership Teams to take on the role of Title I teams, many schools choose to have one team rather than two.
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Community District Education Councils

Community District Education Councils are what replaced the city’s old community school boards. Councils are made up of twelve members who– on paper – oversee the schools in the 32 community districts. Because, however, the chancellor has given so much authority to the 10 new regional offices, called divisions, these councils may find it hard to have an effect on what happens in the schools.

Councils, like the boards that preceded them, are largely advisory. Functions include acting as liaisons to school leadership teams, exercising oversight on zoning, and offering input on the district comprehensive education plan. The councils hold monthly meetings with the superintendent (a regional instructional leader, tapped for double duty by the chancellor), and submit to the chancellor an annual performance evaluation of the superintendent and all the instructional leaders assigned to district schools. Every parent council holds public meetings once a month with the superintendent where parents can share their views.

These local boards consist of nine parents, two members of the community and one non-voting high school senior. Parents are elected by PA or PTA officers to two-year terms with no term limits; community members are appointed by the borough president also for two-year terms but may be re-appointed only once. The students are selected by the superintendent of the district for one-year terms. No one receives compensation except reimbursement for expenses.

Citywide Council on Special Education
The Citywide Council on Special Education is elected by parents of children in District 75 special education programs. It also has community members (appointed by the Public Advocate) and a student member. The council advises and comments on educational or instructional policy, and issues an annual report with recommendations.

Citywide Council on High School
One citywide council provides a forum for high school issues. The ten voting members, each a parent of a student in a public high school, are selected by high school parents associations officers. There is one member per region. A student member, a senior who is in an elected leadership role in her/his school, is appointed by the Chancellor for a one-year term. The council advises and comments on educational policy and will issue an annual report with recommendations. Ordinarily, parent members serve for two years but the first round choices have only one year. They can be re-selected.