The results of this year’s Community Education Council election were announced by the New York City Department of Education on June 16, and one concerned group is advocating for an independent election audit.
The CEC is a volunteer council of public school parents who have a say in DOE school zoning, buildings, policies, curriculum and more. CEC elections occur every two years.
The election cycle was marked by controversy, low voter turnout and technical difficulties, which is why one group of parents and CEC leaders advocated for an audit outside Gracie Mansion on June 20.
Some districts received only a few hundred ballots, and Brooklyn CECs 19 and 23 had some of the lowest voter turnout citywide. Some audit advocates said the low turnout was because some parents were locked out of their NYC Schools Accounts and DOE didn't sufficiently engage potential voters.
Some also said endorsements from Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education went against the CEC rules. Some candidates were endorsed by PLACE without their knowledge, and 40% of PLACE-endorsed candidates won seats citywide.
“40% isn’t a majority,” said Antonia Martinelli, the CEC 15 Borough President Appointee. “With voter turnout as low as it was, the only people who were voting were the people motivated enough to vote. I really don’t think we should read too much into the fact they got 40% of their candidates.”
Jay Brown, the reelected vice president of CEC 21, told BK Reader enrollment is lower in public schools compared to 2021. He said some schools don't have a parent coordinator to help with the online portal and there were language barriers in the voting process.
“The 2023 election voter turnout is comparable to the 2021 turnout,” a DOE spokesperson said.
Election Results
Some well-known names in Brooklyn's CEC community won council seats in their district — however, some parents who used to be involved have either chosen to step back from CEC work or no longer qualify to be on the board.
Camille Casaretti, former president of CEC 15, is one of the parents stepping back. Her time with the CEC included the rezoning of elementary schools and 2017’s Middle School Diversity Plan, which removed screenings and saw the City give $500,000 to support school faculty in those admission changes.
Now, she is moving on to one of the Community and Citywide Education Councils. She was elected to the Citywide Council on Special Education, and was also offered a seat by the Public Advocate for the Citywide Council on High Schools. Soon, she will decide which council she’ll serve on.
“I’ve just been so grateful for all these opportunities that I’ve had to speak up, speak out, support wherever and whenever I can,” she said. “I think that the parent leader titles are really meaningless unless you’re willing to do the real work of creating equitable outcomes.”
CEC 16’s former president NeQuan McLean's future is unsettled because his youngest son enrolled in a non-public school for his dyslexia. The former president of the CEC that covers Bed-Stuy is looking to be a Borough President Appointee to continue his community work.
"I’m a Bed-Stuy resident, no matter what,” he said.
Jess Byrne, formerly of CEC 22 — which covers Ditmas Park, Sheepshead Bay and Marine Park, among other neighborhoods — is another outgoing CEC parent. She was elected president of CEC 22 in 2019, the same year one member was pressured to resign after using a racial slur towards Asians and a few years after many council members threatened to quit. Byrne and the rest of the council had much to improve, but she believes they succeeded.
“I am pleased that we created a more harmonious CEC,” Byrne said. “I am pleased that we managed to overcome the past turmoil our CEC had been dealing with. It was so broken. There was a sense that our council was not serving the community, and we were able to overcome that.”
In CEC 20, which represents Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, parts of Sunset Park and Borough Park, two-term member Vito LaBella aged out when his youngest entered high school last year.
LaBella has since segued his views on education into politics — he ran for State Senate in 2022, and recently ran for a City Council seat. According to the NYC Board of Elections unofficial election results, he looks likely to lose the Republican primary to newcomer Ying Tan, with only 47.25% of the vote, but also ran in the Conservative primary, where he is uncontested.
“We have really shown that the message that we placed in 2019,” LaBella said. “[It] really resonates with the parents of District 20. Parents… want an accelerated program. It’s just a matter of separate programs. We don’t have label children. We have to define curriculum.”
While these CEC members are proudly retiring from their positions, others are gearing up for another two years.
CEC 14 President Tajh Sutton, CEC 20 President Stephen Stowe, CEC 15 Borough President Appointee Martinelli, CEC 17 President Erika Kendall and CEC 21 Vice President Brown have all been reelected to their councils.
“I’m happy to be elected,” said Sutton. “We’ve always had really great people who understand the stakes and want to do the work despite the bureaucracies, so I’m happy to be reelected and some of my long-time members reelected with me. I see there’s a couple of new parents, so I hope that they want to work together to achieve the best outcomes for every child.”
“If there’s any moment the community can discuss and acknowledge the work that you’ve done, it’s election time,” said Kendall, who is entering her fifth term.
“So to have people say, ‘Yeah, we can do this again,’ that feels good,” Kendall said.
It is currently unclear whether or not the city will order an election audit. Check back here for updates.
