PLACE applauds parents who stepped up to run for Council seats and volunteer their time to make our public schools better. – Chien Kwok, Co-President, PLACE NYC
New York City’s parent education-council elections saw a significant victory for candidates backed by Parent Leaders for Accelerated Curriculum and Education (PLACE), a group advocating for merit-based admissions and higher academic standards.
Nearly 75% of PLACE-supported candidates won, securing 40% representation on the Citywide & Community Education Councils (CECs) for the 2023-2025 term.
PLACE-backed candidates succeeded across numerous school districts, including Districts 2 and 3 in Manhattan, Districts 20 and 26 in Brooklyn and Queens, and the Citywide Council on High Schools. This result indicates solid parental support for merit-based admissions and expanded advanced educational opportunities, despite criticism from liberal education activists who push the soft bigotry of low expectations of Black and Hispanic students. PLACE supports all students.
The significant win for PLACE-endorsed candidates is seen as a response to advocates who argue that merit-based policies disadvantage Black and Hispanic students, thus perpetuating segregation. The group’s success was especially noticeable in districts with large Asian and immigrant populations, where students often excel in merit-based schools and programs.
PLACE supporters typically favor maintaining the current procedures in specialized high schools, such as Stuyvesant and Bronx Science, which rely on an admissions test for entry. They also back the use of academic grades for middle and high school enrollment and endorse more rigorous Regents Exams for high-school graduation, among other initiatives.
The CECs’ authority encompasses school rezoning approvals, policy resolutions, and consultations with district superintendents. This authority now has substantial representation from PLACE members who support merit-based education and high expectations of all children. PLACE-backed candidates secured 133 seats representing a diverse spectrum of the city’s ethnic, cultural, racial, and religious communities.
In a statement, PLACE NYC co-president Chien Kwok said, “PLACE applauds parents who stepped up to run for Council seats and volunteer their time to make our public schools better.”
He added, “We took on the tremendous work of recruiting and educating parents about CECs and take enormous pride in helping elect 133 parents who will serve their communities in the next two years.”
