Daily News article on CEC election
Mona Davids
Department of Education earns an F: Tiny turnout dogs bungled parent council elections
BY BEN CHAPMAN
DAILY NEWS WRITER
Wednesday, June 8th 2011, 1:50 PM
The Department of Education failed to get out the vote in its bungled parent council elections this year, despite holding a do-over to encourage more parent participation.
Just 2,782 parents voted in last month's parent council elections for city school districts - a tiny turnout compared to the last elections, when 25,002 parents voted.
Confusion over the election process and apathy contributed to low turnout, parents said.
"The flaws in this election are too many to count - parents are fed up and demoralized," said Mona Davids, president of the New York Parents Association, a city-wide advocacy group.
Every two years, parents run for seats on volunteer advisory boards for each school district called Community Education Councils.
Education department officials first tried to hold this year's CEC elections in early May, but decided to hold a do-over vote after parents complained about problems with nominations and ballots.
The agency website had no mention of the election until less than two weeks before the vote, and many parents were unable to access the password-protected site with the ballots. Also, the city posted inaccurate information about who was eligible to run for the councils.
Even fewer parents voted in the agency's second go-round, which ended May 25.
The botched elections were run by the same education department unit that drew criticism in March for instructing employees to ask parents to lobby for change seniority rules for teachers.
In a statement, Chancellor Dennis Walcottacknowledged he was "disappointed" with the lackluster turnout, but promised to work to get more parents involved.
"Parent involvement in our schools is a priority, which is why over the past several weeks I have been meeting with parent coordinators, CEC members and community organizations to discuss how to encourage more parents to get involved in their children's education," Walcott said.
The new members of the city's parent councils will be seated July 1. Runoff elections are still being held for some districts where there were tied races.
bcha...@nydailynews.com