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Stop the Steamrolling! CCHS dissenters sound the alarm over AI-Focused Next Gen Tech High School resolution

On March 11, CCHS voted 7-3 to pass a resolution formally supporting the proposed AI-focused Next Generation Technology High School. The resolution is effectively a CCHS endorsement of a School Utilization Proposal (SUP) that would establish a new, screened high school (Next Generation Technology High School, or NGTHS) focused on preparing students for careers in artificial intelligence. It also doubles down on a full-council endorsement by stipulating—absurdly—“that the Citywide Council on High Schools authorizes the CCHS Co-Presidents, or their designee(s), and any Council Member who wishes to do so, to communicate this resolution and advocate in support of NGTHS before the Panel for Educational Policy, provided that such advocacy reflects the position adopted by CCHS in this resolution .” This proposal is contingent upon the closure of an existing school and the co-location of Next Gen Tech in a building shared with other school communities. We are not opposed to technology-focuse...
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Stop the Shortcuts: How the CCHS resolution calling for uniform ELL eligibility for all community councils obscures the real issue

In February, with 8 of 12 members in favor, CCHS passed the "Resolution Recommending Uniform Eligibility for Parents of English Language Learners to Serve on the 32 CECs, CCELL, and CCHS." It recommends that English Language Learner (ELL) parent eligibility for all NYC education councils be pegged not to the student's ELL status at the time of parent/caregiver election or appointment, but to the student having been "ever-ELL": an ELL at any point in time.  At first glance, expanding these eligibility qualifications may appear inclusive. It is noted that filling ELL seats on councils has been a challenge, and that these seats must be filled in order for councils, including CCHS, to meaningfully represent ELL families and students amongst other constituencies. However, this longstanding, persistent pattern is precisely why this resolution, which is less a meaningful reform and more a policy workaround, risks sidestepping the real problem: NYC Public Schools still ...
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Words Matter: Why we wanted "aptitude" struck from the well-intentioned CCHS resolution on career assessments

Those of us who voted no on or abstained from voting on the February 11, 2026 "Resolution Calling on NYC Public Schools to Implement Career Aptitude Assessments for 9th and 11th Grade Students" are unified in our belief that invoking "aptitude" is not only unnecessary but also limiting to the potential of the resolution—and the students whose horizons it was designed to expand. Worse, it invokes a classist, racist, sexist, and ableist legacy of tracking students into classes and careers rather than giving them runway to explore options on their own. We applaud the resolution itself, but found it lacking in specificity (which tests? created by whom?) and lament a missed opportunity to remove a loaded word, especially when, as noted in Chalkbeat , the tests "often need adult support to assist with interpretation ." Neither educators nor students themselves need another reason to label kids as not good at something. What kids need is exposure to a wide range...
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