Who We Are

The NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) is organizing a parent-led movement for educational equity and excellence in the city’s public schools. We are a citywide collaborative of community-based organizations whose members are parents and community residents. We unapologetically organize in Black, Brown and immigrant communities. Together, we are fighting to ensure that every child in NYC receives a quality and well-rounded education.

Education is a critical lever for social and economic equity. The opportunity to receive an excellent education is not distributed equally across neighborhoods, and far too many schools are not equipped to prepare students for college and careers. For example:

● Fewer than one in three NYC Black and Latino students are reading and writing at state standards, compared to more than half of White students

● Compared to White students, NYPD are 8.3 times more likely to intervene in a disciplinary situation if a student is Black, and 4.4 times more likely to intervene if a student is Latino

What We Have Won

Some of our successes include:

● Culturally Responsive Education: Secured $23 million from the de Blasio administration to institute anti-bias trainings for all New York City school staff, as well as in-depth training for several hundred teachers citywide and all schools in District 9 in the South Bronx.

● Community Schools: Organized for and secured the launch of the largest community schools initiative in the country. Worked with the city to draft and pass a Community Schools Policy that codifies core components of community schools,

● Parent-Teacher Conferences: To help parents support their children in meeting the new Common Core standards, CEJ secured $5 million to fund 30-minute one-to-one parent-teacher conferences for over 200,000 students who scored below grade level.

● Middle Grades: CEJ’s efforts led to the Middle School Quality Initiative, which has invested more than $35 million in comprehensive reform of low performing middle grade schools, including 20 schools that are piloting expanded learning time.

Current Organizing Work

We will continue our fight to:

● Expand culturally responsive strategies such as recruitment and retention of teachers and leaders of color; cultural competency training for all staff; diverse, relevant, multicultural curriculum; positive school climate; and transformative parent engagement

● Through our alliance with the Alliance for Quality Education, ensure that NYC schools get their fair share of city and state funding

CEJ Member Organizations

● Make the Road New York is a major force for social change in New York City, with more than 15,000 members who lead the organization in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island. Make the Road New York offers a variety of services and strategies for neighborhood improvement, including organizing for civil rights and economic justice, legal services, educational programs, and youth development.

● New Settlement Parent Action Committee organizes for educational justice and safety with dignity in the lowest performing school districts in NYC. PAC develops local and district-wide campaigns, builds the leadership and skills of South Bronx parents, and offers monthly “Know Your Rights” workshops that benefit the entire community. PAC is a program of New Settlement Apartments, which owns and operates nearly 1,000 units of housing and provides educational and community service programs to thousands of children, youth and adults.

● New York Communities for Change is a community-based membership organization committed to organizing in NYC’s lowest-income neighborhoods. Our goal is to empower communities to impact the political and economic policies that directly affect them. We will build organizations that have the strength to create positive change through leadership development, direct action, negotiation, legislation, and voter participation.

● Alliance for Quality Education is a coalition mobilizing communities across New York State to demand the resources and policies necessary to provide a quality public education to all students regardless of zip code.

● MASA is a non-profit that partners with Latino immigrant children, youth, and families in New York City – especially in the South Bronx – to develop strong learners and leaders who fully contribute to the broader community. Masa Parents in Action, Masa’s community organizing committee, is a parent-led group dedicated to improving the educational experiences of families in the South Bronx and throughout New York City, especially for Latino and immigrant families.

● NYU Metro Center provides technical assistance to CEJ. The team at the Metro Center has supported community organizing for school reform in New York since 1995 and provides a wide range of strategic support, data analysis, research, and training.