Photo credit: Flamingo images
On May 17, 2022, Schools Chancellor David C. Banks announced the launch of community town halls to engage parents and community members in the process of hiring 45 New York City public school superintendents – significantly expanding the involvement of parental feedback in the hiring of the future leaders of our public schools.
“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 Schools Chancellor David C. Banks. “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.”
On March 2, 2022, Chancellor Banks announced as part of his ‘Bold Vision for NYC Public Schools’ 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 – allowing current superintendents to apply alongside both internal and external candidates. As part of the first stage in this process, leadership put 130 potential candidates through a rigorous interview process and advanced the two or three best candidates for each district that fit this reimagined role, in addition to all incumbent superintendent candidates. Candidates were assessed for their ability to articulate plans to redesign and reimagine the learning environment, improve literacy rates for all students, leverage the knowledge and experience of principals, improve community and parent engagement, create career pathways for students, and identify, scale, and grow effective leadership practices.
Led by Community Education Councils (CECs), Citywide Councils, District Parent Advisory Council, and Presidents’ Councils, each community will have the opportunity to hear directly from two to three finalist candidates for the position of superintendent. Town halls will feature personal introductions of candidates, Council-written questions, and the opportunity for parents to ask additional questions and provide feedback to Council members. Finalist candidates come to town halls after a thorough vetting process, including a review of their written strategic vision for improving literacy outcomes and an interview presentation and questions with teams of senior leaders and principals.
Following the public town halls, the CECs, Citywide Councils, and Presidents’ Councils, as well as a representative of the UFT, a representative of the CSA, and a representative of DC 37 will engage in the C-37 consultation process as prescribed by state law and Chancellor’s Regulation C-37 to provide formal feedback on the candidates to the Department of Education. Deputy Chancellor of School Leadership Desmond K. Blackburn is leading the superintendent hiring process and Chancellor Banks will make final hiring decisions after incorporating the feedback of parents, union partners, elected officials, and community members.
“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.”
The reimagined role of the superintendent will be responsible for supporting and evaluating school leaders, marshaling the resources of the Department of Education to make opportunities available to students, and act as the primary point of contact for parents, community members, and elected officials in finding solutions to issues in our public schools. Deputy Chancellor Blackburn will support and oversee superintendents.
Please visit our website to register for your district’s town hall: learndoe.org/supt2022. All town halls are virtual.
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