The Department of Justice and the Bush Administration do not want to discuss the abuse of 9/11 detainees at a prison in Brooklyn, New York, according to letters posted on www.watchingjustice.org., and a request to meet with Mr. Ashcroft was denied. The Department also has interfered with states' rights to decide whether a terminally ill person may be given enough drugs to end his/her life, as in Oregon, where if a doctor gives these drugs this doctor may be prosecuted under the Controlled Substances Act. A federal appeals court just rebuked the Justice Department for this interference.

Why should we care about what the Department of Justice does?

Because the people who work there often make legal decisions that affect each and every one of us.

Let's take for a moment the issue of education, civil rights, and the justice department in New York City.The NYC Department of Education did not, under the control of Mayor Michael Bloomberg, want to continue to have problems with the school boards and Superintendents of the 32 Districts, so they were made powerless by a new entity, the Community District Education Councils (CDECs). Each District would have, the NYCDOE said, a CDEC made up of 9 parents, 1 student, and two appointees of the Public Advocate. In addition, there would be additional CDECs for Special Education and high schools. All members of all CDECs would be elected by the PTA President, Secretary, and Treasurer of each school within each district.

Therefore, it seems that the Klein/Bloomberg administration effectively did away with one person/one vote, and mandated that only a select group of parents could elect the new representatives for each school district. There is also concern that selectors chosen to vote for the high school council were illegally forbidden from voting in the District that their children attend school:

Email from District 2 Parents' Council:

There appears to be a problem with the legality of the vote as it
pertains to High School Selectors and the Community Education
Councils.

Accoding to the Chancellor's Regulations:
As the PTA President of Bayside High School, I am a selector for the
Region 3 seat on the High School Education Council and do not have a
vote in the District 26 Education Council Elections.
However:
Since the NYS Law that created Community School District Education
Councils does not include a Citywide High School Council, it requires
that I have a vote for the District 26 Council
The Law clearly provides me with an absolute right to vote for the
District council representatives. This right cannot be cancelled by
the Chancellor's administrative creation of a Citywide High School
Council. The desire of the Chancellor to give High School parents an
additionsl and more specific forum to address their issues is
admirable, but it must be in addition to, not instead of the voting
rights provided by the State Law.

Therefore:
In order to be in compliance with both the Law and the Chancellor's
regulations:
ALL HIGH SCHOOL SELECTORS MUST BE GIVEN VOTING RIGHTS FOR BOTH THE
CITYWIDE HIGH SCHOOL COUNCIL AND THE COMMUNITY SCHOOL DISTRICT
COUNCIL FOR THE DISTRICT WITHING WHICH THE HIGH SCHOOL IS LOCATED.

The outrage of parents from all areas of New York City was swift and loud, as parents and taxpayers throughout the city realized the consequences of the new Councils:violation of the Voting Rights Act. This would make New York City voters perhaps the least empowered on school matters anywhere in the nation, which serves the interests, it appears to us, of the Bloomberg/Klein administration.

The old community school boards were generally ignored (only 3-5% of the voters even bothered to vote). and sometimes hated, but at least the elections were open to anyone who wanted to participate.

There is no question that very few people voted in these elections, but we believe that there were several systemic reasons for this in New York City:

1. No budgetary votes were allowed as the NYC school budget comes out of general revenue, not property taxes. Financial questions have not in the past been explained enough to voters to have them run to the voting booth.

2. The vote is in May, not November, and the vote has never been highly publicized.

3. No one ever put much value into the school boards in New York City due to the extensive reports of nepotism and fraud reported in the newspapers and perpetrated by the school board members.

Certainly there is insufficient data to remove the one person/one vote entirely.Also, the selectors of the new CDEC members must be the PTA President, Secretary, or Treasurer. What about parents who live outside of the district that has their child's school, or parents/guardians of children not yet attending public school (too young, in a parocial or private school, home schooled) but may enter the system at any time? What about the taxpaying resident of New York City who does not have a child in the system but who has a school across the street, or a relative or friend in the system? Shouldn't they have a vote on who will represent their interests? Must we support the false premise that PTA Presidents, Secretaries, and Treasurers are all independently appointed/elected without any say from the DOE, and therefore represent the interests of the parents of their schools?

The Justice Department says no.

Parents called/wrote/emailed the Department of Justice on a daily basis, according to DOJ employees, to stop what they all considered a violation of the Voting Rights Act, giving minorities equal representation. But it did no good. The Department of Justice cleared the change from school boards to CDECs. Some parents said that Joel Klein was picked to be Chancellor because he had worked for the Department of Justice and he could help railroad legislation through.

Throughout the city, school staff and parents are now reporting to us that the majority of School Leadership Team elections and/or PA/PTA elections are "fixed",unfair, undemocratic, and illegal. If this is indeed true, then the people voting the new CDEC parents into office are not representative of the voting public in New York. Indeed, during the elections, PTA Presidents and other "selectors" told The E-Accountability Foundation that they could not attend the election and vote because the building was closed; the date was not told to them; and other bizarre mishaps.

The pre-clearance request of the NYC DOE:

NYC Law Department Submits Preclearance Request to U.S. Department of Justice for State Laws Establishing Community District Education Councils and Citywide Council on Special Education


On October 31, 2003, the New York City Law Department submitted to the U.S. Department of Justice the request for preclearance under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of the State Law establishing Community District Education Councils and the Citywide Council on Special Education. Section 5 of the federal Voting Rights Act provides that proposed voting changes in certain jurisdictions must be precleared by the Department of Justice to ensure that they do not have a retrogressive effect on any protected minority group.

The Law Department's preclearance submission follows an extensive process to devise a system that will honor the Voting Rights Act and be as parent-friendly as possible under the law. The submission incorporates careful consideration of the feedback received from parents, community members and elected officials during the public hearings held by the Department of Education in each of the five boroughs and consultation with various voting rights experts and the Justice Department. The submission demonstrates that the new law and regulations increase the opportunity for minority representation in community school district governance structures. In its submission, the Law Department is requesting expedited consideration.

At the same time, the Department of Education also released final versions of its regulations for nominating and selecting the parent and student members of the Community District Education Councils and the Citywide Council on Special Education. The revised regulations address issues raised by parents and community members during a series of public hearings held in each of the five boroughs. Specifically, changes were made to offer a greater opportunity for parents and community members to learn about candidates for the Councils; to create formal opportunities for parents to inform their PA/PTA officers about their opinions of the candidates before selection occurs; to create a more convenient and parent-friendly selection process that will allow selectors to mail in or drop off their ballots; and to ensure that the voting rule provides for equitable representation of the parent population within each district and District 75.

In addition, the Chancellor created a new Citywide High School Council to complement the state governance law that provides for Community District Education Councils and the Citywide Council on Special Education:

SCHOOLS CHANCELLOR JOEL I. KLEIN ANNOUNCES CREATION OF NEW CITYWIDE HIGH SCHOOL COUNCIL
10/30/2003
Council Ensures that High School Parents are Represented in New School Governance Structure;
New York City Law Department to File Pre-Clearance Submission to U.S. Department of Justice

Schools Chancellor Joel I. Klein today announced the creation of a new Citywide High School Council. The High School Council complements the new State governance law that provides for replacing Community School Boards with Community District Education Councils and creates the Citywide Council on Special Education. The new Council ensures that high school parents have their own representation in the new school governance structure. The Chancellor also announced that tomorrow the New York City Law Department will file a submission to the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the State law creating Community District Education Councils and the Citywide Council on Special Education.

The creation of the High School Council responds to concerns heard at public hearings across the City that high school parents were not represented in the new governance scheme. Under the State law, high school parents are not eligible to serve as members of the Community District Education Councils.

"We want to ensure that all parents, including high school parents, have a strong voice in our new system," Chancellor Klein said. "This will only serve to strengthen our efforts to involve parents at all levels – be it school, district, or Citywide."

The High School Council is designed to have a parallel composition, selection process, and duties to the Citywide Council on Special Education. It will be comprised of nine parents selected in a Citywide process by the presidents of each high school parent association/parent-teacher association (PA/PTA). The process will ensure representation from each borough and that no more than one parent from the same school is selected. In addition, the High School Council will include two high school students selected by the Chancellor's Student Advisory Council. The Council's duties will include advising and commenting on education and instructional policies involving high schools, issuing an annual report on the effectiveness of high school education and holding regular meetings for the public to discuss issues of importance to high school parents.

The Chancellor also announced that the New York City Law Department will submit tomorrow to the U.S. Department of Justice its request for pre-clearance of the State law establishing Community District Education Councils and the Citywide Council on Special Education. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act provides that proposed voting changes in certain jurisdictions must be pre-cleared by the Department of Justice to ensure that they do not have a retrogressive effect on any protected minority group. This submission follows an extensive process to devise a system that will honor the Voting Rights Act and be as parent-friendly as possible under the law. The submission, along with the development and revision of the Chancellor's regulations, incorporates careful consideration of the feedback received from parents, community members and elected officials during the Department's Citywide public hearings and consultation with various voting rights experts and the Justice Department. The submission demonstrates that the new law and regulations increase the opportunity for minority representation in community school district governance structures. In its submission, the Law Department is requesting expedited consideration.

The Law Department's submission also includes the Department of Education's revised regulations for nominating and selecting the parent and student members of the Community District Education Councils and the Citywide Council on Special Education. The revised regulations address issues raised by parents and community members during a series of public hearings held in each of the five boroughs. Specifically, changes were made to offer a greater opportunity for parents and community members to learn about candidates for the Councils; to create formal opportunities for parents to inform their PA/PTA officers about their opinions of the candidates before selection occurs; to create a more convenient selection process that will allow selectors to mail in or drop off their ballots; and to ensure that the voting rule provides opportunities for all segments of the parent community to have candidates of their choice selected. Under the State law, the Department of Education is required to develop such regulations.
Once filed, a copy of the City's pre-clearance submission to the Department of Justice and final versions of the regulations will be available on the DOE website, www.nycenet.edu.

The creation of the High School Council responds to concerns heard at public hearings across the City that high school parents were not represented in the new governance scheme. Under the State law, high school parents are not eligible to serve as members of the Community District Education Councils.

As a result of the new governance law, minor revisions of Chancellor's Regulations A-660, C-120, and D-130 are required. Regulation A-660 (Parent Associations and the Schools) will be revised to provide for a uniform election process for PA/PTA executive boards. The revisions will require that elections be held between the second Tuesday in May and May 31. The revisions also will require that, at a minimum, all executive boards must consist of a president, secretary, and treasurer. Regulation C-120 (Disclosure of Financial Interests) will be revised to require nominees for Community District Education Council and the City-wide Council on Special Education to file a nominee disclosure form. (A similar requirement applies to persons who serve on community school boards.) Regulation D-130 (Political Activities in Schools) will be revised to prohibit nominees for Community District Education Councils and the Citywide Council on Special Education from accepting political endorsements and campaign contributions. (This prohibition has been required by the State Legislature.)

Then the NYC DOE told New York City that 50% of the eligible selectors had voted for the council members:

NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
JOEL I. KLEIN, CHANCELLOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE N-47, 2003-04
May 13, 2004
NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION ANNOUNCES 50% OF ELIGIBLE VOTERS PARTICIPATED IN SELECTION OF PARENT MEMBERS FOR NEW COMMUNITY EDUCATION COUNCILS
Individual Council Members to be Announced by Week of May 24th
The New York City Department of Education (DOE) today announced that 50% of eligible voters participated in the selection of the parent members for the 32 new Community Education Councils (CECs) that will replace the existing Community School Boards, as reported to the DOE by KPMG LLP, which managed the selection process. Voting for the CECs, Citywide Council on Special Education, and Citywide Council on High Schools was completed Tuesday, May 11th. Under State law, the parent members of the new Councils replacing Community School Boards are selected by Parent Association/Parent-Teacher Association Officers in the district. In the 1999 Community School Board elections, only 3% of eligible voters participated. The DOE also noted that it will begin to announce the names of individual Council members by the week of May 24th, following the review of candidates' financial disclosure information for possible conflicts of interest, as required by State and City law. Finally, the DOE announced that limited run-off elections will be required for 51 -out of the 307 total- Council seats due to ties for the final spots on the Council or between parents from the same school.
"Increasing parental involvement is a core tenet of our Children First reforms," Chancellor Joel I. Klein said. "Almost 1,500 parents nominated themselves to serve on one of these new parent-dominated Education Councils and half of the eligible PA/PTA officers voted in this year's selection process. This is a clear indication that parents want to have their voices heard and join in providing every public school child with a first-rate education. I am confident that these new Councils will expand on our continued efforts to ensure that parents serve as critical partners in creating a system of effective schools throughout the City."
Before the announcement of individual members, the DOE will conduct a thorough review, as required by State and City law, of the financial disclosures of both selected parent members and members appointed by the Borough Presidents and Public Advocate. These reviews will ensure that members' service on the Councils will not create any conflict of interest.
Limited run-off elections will be required in districts that experienced ties for the final spots on the Council or between parents from the same school, as well as for the Citywide Council on Special Education and the Citywide Council on High Schools. Run-offs will be required in the following districts: 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28, 29, and 32. KPMG will conduct the run-offs on May 26th and 27th. Selectors will be able to vote electronically at sites within these districts or at the DOE's Office of Parent and Community Engagement at 49 Chambers Street in Manhattan. The sites will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
The new Councils expand the opportunity for parents to take a lead in the reform of New York City's public schools. Each of the 32 Community Education Councils will consist of nine parent members selected by PA/PTA officers from schools in the district, two members appointed by the Borough President, and one student representative. The Citywide Council on Special Education will consist of nine parent members, two members appointed by the Public Advocate, and one student representative. To ensure that high school parents have the same leadership opportunities, Chancellor Klein created the first-ever Citywide Council on High Schools, which will consist of ten parent members and one student representative.
KPMG reported to the DOE that nearly 1,500 parents nominated themselves to serve on one of the new Councils. Candidates had the opportunity to present to parent and community members at candidate forums held in every district, region, and borough. Over 11,000 parent and community members subsequently provided feedback on the candidates in their district or region for the selectors' consideration. KPMG LLP, one of the world's leading accounting, tax, and advisory services firms, was selected through a competitive bidding process to manage the nomination and selection process and ensure the objectivity and integrity of the process.

The New York City Department of Education, it seems, intentionally rejected the voting public in favor of a select few chosen by devious electoral techniques. un-off elections in 21 out of 32 Districts? Something is wrong. Other complaints:

1. Each voter voted for two candidates, in the district that the PA/PTA Executive Board member's school is located. With nine vacancies on each council to be chosen, "I believe they have disenfranchised everyone... Has anyone ever voted in an election where you got fewer votes than the number of seats to be filled???? FLorida perhaps??" emailed a parent. What is the rationale for limiting each voter to only 2 candidates for 9 vacancies?

2. Carolyn Prager, the brilliant policy analyist and founder of ARPE (Advocates for Public
Representation in Public Education) wrote:
a) COMPARISON OF CDEC AND CSB ELECTION PARTICIPATION RATES: The DOE statement
compares a 50% turnout of eliglble voters in the CDEC vote to a 3% turnout for community school boards in the 1999 election. This ignores the fact that ALL registered voters and ALL parents with children in the schools were eligible to vote in the CSB elections. The total number of voters in the 1999 CSB elections far exceeded the total number of voters in the 2004 CDEC election. The far larger vote for CSB members
occured without any of the extensive supporting apparatus that made it far easier for CDEC voters to cast their votes in 2004 than was available to the general population voting for CSB members in 1999.

b) RUN-OFFS: 21 out of the 32 community school districts will have to hold run-off elections because 51 of the 307 total CDEC seats ended in tie-votes or two people selected from the same school. Therefore, 66.6% of all districts will have to go through another round of voting. If only 50% of eligible PTA/PA
"selectors" voted in the first round of voting, it is highly likely that the second round will have an even lower voting participation rate.

c) NUMBER OF CANDIDATES: The DOE states that the fact that 1,500 parents nominated themselves for CDEC slots is an indication of high parental interest in CDEC participation. However, there are over 1,000 elementary and middle/junior high/intermediate schools in the 32 school districts. Do the math!

3. Communication between the candidates, the "selectors" and the Office of Parent Engagement was random, and ultimately unfair. Some candidates were told to appear at candidate forums, while others heard nothing about it. No questions of the candidates were allowed at any forum or "meet the candidate" gathering.Jemina from the NYC DOE Office of Parent Engagement said, "As a matter of policy, OPCE will not endorse forums not coordinated by our office this year due to the inability to ensure standard and objective protocols throughout the City, including the types of questions asked of candidates....."

4. Some candidates were asked for financial disclosure; others were not.

The Department of Justice must be squirming in their seats. At least we hope they are.