Education Council Consortium Statement Demanding Reinstatement of the CEC14 President

On Friday June 14, 2024, David C. Banks, the Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education (DOE), removed two Community Education Council (CEC) members, one of whom is Tajh Sutton, the President of the CEC District 14 (CEC 14), the other is Maud Maron, a member of the CEC District 2 (CEC 2). 

On June 19, 2024 the Education Council Consortium denounced the removal of the CEC 14 President Tajh Sutton by the Chancellor and demanded that he restore her membership to her Council. The Education Council Consortium continues to demand her reinstatement. .

Chancellor’s Regulation D-210 (D-210), cited as the basis of removal, was created at the urging of CEC members, mostly women of color, who experienced ongoing verbal violence, doxxing and racist, misogynistic meeting environments created by other CEC members. Bad behaviors were directed to the work of many equity-driven CEC members, who fight to center the needs of historically marginalized students - Black, Brown and AAPI students, students with disabilities, English Language Learners, students living in poverty, in temporary housing or foster care, and LGBTQ students. 

The regulation was developed by equity-driven CEC members in collaboration with the DOE to institute a process by which CEC members who behave in harmful, harassing and discriminatory ways are held accountable. Unfortunately, during the administration of Chancellor Banks, the DOE has consistently failed to commit the necessary resources to effectively investigate complaints filed under D-210, leaving parents and DOE students vulnerable to harm.

The DOE has failed to  publicly release information concerning the number of complaints filed under D-210, and it was only by filing a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request that we were able to learn that a total of 60 complaints have been filed (from December 22, 2021 to July 1, 2024), of which only one had been filed against CEC 14. Seventeen complaints had been filed against members of CEC 2, which is more than three times the number filed against any other CEC.

Anticipating disciplinary action would be taken against her, CEC 2 member Maron (along with her co-plaintiffs, Citywide Council on High Schools member Deborah Alexander and CEC District 1 member Noah Harlan) filed a lawsuit in federal court on March 26, 2024 challenging the constitutionality of D-210. On April 15, 2024, plaintiffs filed a motion with the court for a preliminary injunction, seeking to enjoin the DOE from implementing or enforcing D-210, “including conducting any investigation or disciplining or removing from office any Community Education Council or Citywide Council member on the basis that the accused engaged in ‘frequent verbal abuse and unnecessary aggressive speech that serves to intimidate and causes others to have concern for their personal safety,’ … expressed ‘disrespect towards children’ or ‘derogatory or offensive comments about any DOE student,’ or speech ‘that would publicly reveal, share or expose private or personally identifiable information about a DOE student or a member of such student’s family without their consent.’” Their lawsuit, framed on free speech grounds, was in fact designed to chill the speech of others, by allowing Maron, Alexander, and Harlan the ability to harass and intimidate other CEC members and those members’ children, free from DOE sanction.

Maron has a long history of racist and transphobic statements, but it was her direct attack on a DOE student that finally compelled the Chancellor to remove her from her position. As the Chancellor stated in his letter removing her from CEC 2, Maron “engaged in a public, personal attack against a student… in the context of an issue that is highly politically charged, in a climate in which harassment and targeting of those who express unpopular opinions is common, and in a tabloid publication whose articles often provoke extreme reactions. Predictably, [Maron’s] conduct provoked a number of other highly offensive and hostile attacks...” 

Inexplicably, even before the court had a chance to rule on the plaintiff’s injunction motion, Chancellor Banks preemptively suspended enforcement of the relevant portions of D-210,  announcing to families that he would not take action to protect their children from intimidation and harassment by CEC members. Instead of defending our students from harm, the Chancellor capitulated, signaling that he will no longer stand in the way of Maron and others who would seek to publicly attack DOE students (see footnote below). 

On September 3, 2024, Maron and her co-plaintiffs received the injunction they requested from the court, and Maron was reinstated to her position on CEC 2 pending the outcome of her lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of D-210 as a violation of the First Amendment. 

In the meantime, as we indicated in our June 19 statement, CEC 14 President Tajh Sutton’s removal constitutes an abuse of power. CEC 14 President Sutton has fought tirelessly to make the public education system in New York City equitable and just. In return, she has faced harassment, doxxing, and death threats, causing her to suspend in-person meetings of CEC 14 and instead hold them online in a safe space for the community. In response, the Chancellor cited her for violation of the Open Meetings Law and removed her from her position. In addition, CEC 14 President Sutton’s advocacy for the Palestinian people played a major role in the Chancellor’s decision to remove her, and his official actions in that regard clearly infringe on her First Amendment rights.

While Maron has been restored to her position by the court, and the Chancellor has even voluntarily agreed to suspend enforcement of D-210, CEC 14 President Sutton’s removal has not been reversed. The Chancellor can voluntarily restore CEC 14 President Sutton to her rightful position, and indeed he should do so, especially given the uncertainty surrounding his removal powers after the court’s reinstatement of Maron on First Amendment grounds. 

To do otherwise, the Chancellor has weaponized the very regulation necessary to protect women of color and used it against a woman of color, while using the process to protect a white woman who is known for her racism and transphobia. The Chancellor’s decision sends a message to our children that NYC Public Schools will tolerate racism and transphobia. We will not accept this unethical conduct of the Chancellor.

We also question the legality of the Chancellor’s decision to voluntarily suspend enforcement of D-210 without a public review or the official vote of the Panel for Educational Policy. Such unilateral exercise of power is emblematic of the undemocratic nature of mayoral control of our schools.  

The Education Council Consortium again demands that the Chancellor restore CEC 14 President Sutton’s membership to her Council.  

Board of Directors
Education Council Consortium

Footnote: NYC Corporation Counsel’s August 28, 2024 letter to the judge states: “Given that DOE cannot unilaterally or immediately revise the regulation, because revisions to Chancellor’s Regulations require both a 45-day public notice and comment period as well as approval by the PEP, see N.Y. Educ. Law § 2590-g(1)(c) and (8), the Chancellor has taken the immediate step of waiving enforcement while DOE prepares to post revisions in an effort to address Plaintiffs’ concerns. This is a further reason that a preliminary injunction is not appropriate at this time.”  The full letter can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fw_C8EDLfKX9Xs9j4PLViE_hV0e2qleS/view?usp=sharing