New York City Schools Chancellor David C. Banks announced the launch of community town hall meetings to engage parents and family members in the process of hiring 45 NYC public school superintendents.
The move will significantly expand the involvement of parent and family feedback in the future hiring process of future public school leaders.
“To give our children bright starts and bold futures, we need leaders who are committed to real engagement of parents and have a track record of getting results for students,” said Chancellor Banks on May 17. “These town halls represent a historic chance for our parents to engage directly with candidates for superintendent and inform who will be part of the group of leaders tasked with making this vision a reality.”
Back on March 2, Chancellor Banks announced that every community school superintendent position, high school superintendent, the superintendent of District 75, and the superintendent of District 79 will undergo an open hiring process as part of his ‘Bold Vision for NYC Public Schools’.
Facilitated by Community Education Councils (CECs), Citywide Councils, District Parent Advisory Council, and Presidents’ Councils, each community will have the opportunity to speak directly from two to three finalist candidates for the position of superintendent in a “town hall” style meeting,
Following the town halls, the CECs, Citywide Councils, and Presidents’ Council, a representative of the UFT, a representative of the CSA and a representative of DC 37 will provide formal feedback on the candidates to the Department of Education.
“Our children deserve leaders who are grounded in their communities and have a vision for how to improve schools, and I am proud that the group of candidates we are putting in front of parents represents those qualities,” said Deputy Chancellor of School Leadership Desmond K. Blackburn. “To ensure our candidates can authentically engage parents, we are making sure parents have a voice in this hiring process and have an opportunity to engage directly with the people seeking to lead their children’s schools.”
