NYC Public School Parents: CEC 15 President's letter about the importance of resistance and running for your CEC and Citywide Councils

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

CEC 15 President's letter about the importance of resistance and running for your CEC and Citywide Councils

See the excellent letter below from CEC 15 President Antonia Ferraro about how the CEC is responding to Trump's threats to control school curriculums, violate student civil rights, and ban books.

She also points out how given this political climate, it is more important than ever for parents to run for their district CECs and Citywide Councils. The deadline to apply is Feb. 16, only a few days from now. More info on how to apply is here.

February 11, 2025

Dear District 15 Families and Community,

CEC15 has received letters of concern regarding various Trump Administration Executive Orders1 2 3 and their potential impact on school funding4 5 and the rights of our diverse student body.6 I believe advocacy for all our children is more important than ever, and I appreciate the ongoing efforts of families to support students by sending such letters.

In the absence of statements from NYCPS I am compelled to respond to concerns about the executive orders. It is an open question as to how enforceable or legal they are; legal analysts have called their legality and constitutionality into question,7 8 9 and numerous lawsuits10 11 12 have already been filed. What I do know is that the federal government cannot dictate to states and cities how their schools function and what curriculums they use. Regardless of questions of legality, there are workarounds to safeguard student rights and I implore our NYCPS to stay the course and develop those workarounds.

What do I mean by workarounds? After the Supreme Court decided in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 113 that K-12 schools could not consider race in admissions, the Obama administration issued guidance14 that enabled school districts to integrate by looking at measures of poverty. This formed the basis for our diversity plans. This type of thinking is essential right now. It is crucial that NYCPS, together with school and community leaders, stay focused on the mission of ensuring that all children in New York City receive a high-quality education in a safe, caring environment.

I also want you to know that as President of CEC15, I have been reaffirming our organization's commitment to celebrating, protecting and respecting all of our students at every single meeting. I have and will continue to demand that the DOE leadership resist attacks on students’ and teachers’ civil rights, human rights, and First Amendment rights.

I have been doing this through the issues I elevate at our public CEC meetings and in meetings that I regularly attend with our Chancellor. CEC15 has been doing this through the resolutions the council has passed, such as CEC15’s Resolution to Prevent and Respond to Hate Speech.15 And I have been doing this through the banned and challenged books that I highlight in meetings. I often share banned books that reflect identities celebrated by our cultural and heritage months and various overlapping holidays. This month we celebrated Black History Month and Lunar New Year. To honor Black History Month, I featured All Because You Matter by Tami Charles, which offers love, hope and affirmation through the Black experience. And to honor Asian and immigrant families, I featured Drawn Together by Minh Le, which tells the story of a grandson and grandfather, struggling to communicate across a language barrier, but find connection through art.

CEC15’s recent Legislative Breakfast largely focused on the threats of this new administration. The event had more than 80 registrants including elected officials, principals, teachers and school staff, and parent leaders. Many important topics were raised, including SCA accountability, libraries, arts funding, protecting migrant and asylum-seeking families, school transportation, the importance of Title I funding, the importance of mental health professionals and mandated services, and the need to revise building utilization plans in buildings collocated with charter schools.

Here again CEC15 featured banned and challenged books. These books were raffled to attendees. The list of books honored the experiences of the trans or gender-questioning children, Native American, African American, Jewish, Hispanic, and immigrant children. The books included:

I am Enough by Grace Byers

Hold Onto Your Music by Mona Golabeck and Lee Cohen

Dreamers by Yuyi Morales

Fry Bread by Kevin Noble Maillard

Planting Stories by Anika Aldamuy Denise When Aidan Became a Brother by Kyle Lukoff We are Still Here! by Traci Sorell

These books were challenged in 2022 by the Northampton (PA) Area School District (NASD) school board, which unanimously voted to table a donation of fifty books from The Conscious Kid, a non-profit organization focused on equity and promoting healthy racial identity development. They rejected the donation after just ten parents complained during a meeting. One of ten parents/grandparents to object to the donation claimed, “The Conscious Kid uses Marxist critical race theory.” Some of the people had not even read any of the books.

I feel that elevating banned books does what proclamations can’t. By sharing these books, I aim to shine a spotlight on the creativity and excellence of writers whose work reflects the rich and varied lived experiences of children in our own communities. Others may call it DEI, but I call it reality.

Therefore, I will keep calm and carry on with the mission of supporting all our students. But I will also keep an eye on protecting the democratic infrastructure that makes supporting students possible. Protecting the independence of democratic institutions and functions should be, must be a nonpartisan concern to all Americans.

This is why it is so important for all community members to participate. I urge parents and caregivers who want to have a voice in our children's collective education to consider running for a seat on a Community or Citywide Education Council (CCEC). CCECs are a small but impactful part of our local democratic infrastructure. CCEC elections for the upcoming 2-year term will be happening soon, and if you have a child in a New York City public school, you can run for a seat. The deadline to apply is soon!

2025 Selection Process Schedule:

● January 13 - February 16: Candidate application period

● February 28 - April 2: Candidate Forums

● April 25 - May 13: Parents vote online

● May 14 - June 2: Run-off elections, if necessary

● June: Election results announced

● July 1: Members-elect take office

Regardless of whether you wish to run, we need parent voices at our CCEC meetings, Community attendance is critical to engage on these topics. Please join us for our next Business or Calendar Meeting, or join us for an upcoming workshop or community celebration.

Thank you again for your support of District 15 schools, and the children and families who depend on them. Rest assured, I will continue to be clear with the DOE leadership that District 15 families expect them to resist attacks on students and teachers’ civil rights, human rights, and First Amendment rights. Hearing your voices helps me do that.

Keep Calm and Carry On Supporting All Students,

CEC15 Signatories

Antonia Ferraro Martinelli, CEC15 President Leslie King, CEC15 Co-President 1

Vanessa Gonzalez Ueoka, CEC15 Co-President 2 Nancy Cruz, CEC15 Secretary

Katina Rogers, CEC15 Treasurer Jonathan Davis, CEC15 Parliamentarian Hans Arrieta, CEC15 member

Kwame Egerton, CEC15 member

D15 Presidents’ Council Signatories

Elton Dodson, D15 Presidents’ Council Co-President

Elizabeth Sanders Greyson, D15 Presidents’ Council Co-President

1 https://www.ed.gov/media/document/title-ix-enforcement-directive-dcl

2 https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/ending-radical-indoctrination-in-k-12-schooling/

3 https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/keeping-men-out-of-womens-sports/