Unresolved

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 ...

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...