Save the date! Citywide parent conference on April 10

On Saturday, April 10, Class Size Matters will be sponsoring a citywide parent conference, with workshops on running effective Parent Associations and School Leadership Teams; toxic schools; how to reach out to the media; how to advocate for your special needs child, the rights and responsibilities of Community Education Councils, Title one issues, and more.

Click on the image to the left or here for a flyer you can post in your school.

The theme of the conference is "Building Bridges with Charter School parents" and one of the panels will be dedicated towards this goal. More on this soon.

The conference will be held at School of the Future on 127 E. 22 St; please come!

Norman Siegel at the emergency conference on school closings

On Saturday, our emergency parent conference on the proposed school closings and charter school sitings was terrific.



About 150 parents turned out from throughout the city to hear eloquent and informative presentations from teachers and students at some of the affected schools, including Christine Rowland and Klodian Simoni from Columbus HS in the Bronx, James Eterno and Rachael Ali from Jamaica HS in Queens, and Seung Ok from Maxwell HS in Brooklyn.



Then we heard from Lisa Donlan of District 1, Jim Devor of District 15, Khem Irby of District 13, and Julie Cavanagh of PS 15K about how parents can navigate the DOE website, participate in the public hearings, and challenge the DOE's Educational Impact Statements.



Finally, Norman Siegel spoke about our victory in court on Friday, in which New Yorkers won the right to protest the closings and the charter school expansions outside the mayor's home this Thursday, Jan. 21. Norman also spoke stirringly about his own background and beliefs, as a former NYC public school student and civil rights activist.



Check out an excerpt below.

Emergency parent conference on closing schools; please come!

In communities throughout the city, students, parents and teachers are outraged at the unilateral decision of the DOE to close their neighborhood schools and/or put charter schools in their buildings.

Parents want to know what can be done.

Class Size Matters is hosting an emergency citywide conference about the proposed school closings by the Department of Education. We will be hearing from parents, students and teachers at the affected schools, and will share strategies and legal options.

When: Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 from 9:30 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Where: School of the Future, 127 East 22nd Street, NYC. (take the #6 to 23 St.)

Norman Siegel, famed civil rights attorney, will be one of the speakers.

Here is a flyer you can post in your schools.

The conference planning committee includes Leonie Haimson, Lisa Donlan, Shino Tanikawa, Khem Irby, William McDonald and Monica Major; active parent leaders from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.

For more information or to volunteer to help out, please contact Leonie Haimson, Class Size Matters, at classsizematters@gmail.com; 212-674-7320 or Monica Major, Event co-chair at
majorm766@gmail.com; 347-664-6712. Hope to see you there!