Here’s who is advising de Blasio on reopening NYC schools

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, pictured here at a Bronx school in 2017, is facing increasing pressure to close schools.
A 45-member panel, appointed by mayor Bill de Blasio, will give advice for reopening the city’s schools amid the coronavirus. (Edwin J. Torres / Mayoral Photo Office)

A panel of education leaders and advocates appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio to guide the city’s reopening plans will begin meeting Wednesday.

The 45-member Education Sector Advisory Council is made up of parents, higher education officials, charter and religious school representatives, nonprofit and union leaders, and more. 

The council is one of six that the mayor hopes will inform the city’s COVID-19 recovery and reopening in more fair and equitable ways. They will meet weekly.

“It’s very, very important that we think about everything that makes up life in this city,” he said at a recent press conference. The councils will “help us understand what is needed to get this restart right.” 

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has appointed his own advisory council, partnering with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to “reimagine” education in the state. That move sparked outrage here,  especially after no current New York City educators were named to the group though the school system is the largest in the state, as well as the country. It was the latest snub traded between the governor and the mayor, whose long-running feud has continued to simmer even during the pandemic. 

Here are all the members of de Blasio’s education council. 

Education Sector Advisory Council members

1. Melissa Aase, University Settlement     

2. Shirley Aldebol, 32 BJ SEIU     

3. Andrea Anthony, Day Care Council     

4. David C Banks, Eagle Academy     

5. Richard Beattie, New Visions for Public Schools   

6. Sian Beilock, Barnard College       

7. Jack Bendheim, SAR Academy Riverdale     

8. Lee C. Bollinger, Columbia University    

9. Phoebe Boyer, Children’s Aid Society     

10. Marc Brackett, Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence/Developer, RULER  

11. Richard Buery, Achievement First      

12. Mark Cannizzaro, CSA       

13. Natasha Capers, NYC Coalition for Educational Justice   

14. Steven Choi, New York Immigration Coalition    

15. Michael Coppotelli, Archdiocese of New York    

16. Margaret Crotty, Partnership with Children     

17. Traci Donnelly, Child Center of NY    

18. Gregory Floyd, Local 237, School Safety Agents   

19. Jane Foley Fried, NY State Association of Independent Schools 

20. Kay Galarza, Student PEP Member     

21. Henry Garrido, DC 37      

22. Peter Gee, The Door      

23. Barbara Glassman, Include NYC      

24. Jasmine Gripper, Alliance for Quality Education   

25. Anita Gundanna, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families 

26. Andrew Hamilton, NYU       

27. Kristin Kearns Jordan, Urban Assembly    

28. Thomas Krever, Hetrick-Martin Institute      

29. Vanessa Leung, PEP Member- Individualized Education Program   

30. Stanley Litow, IBM Foundation      

31. Joe Luft, Internationals Network for Public Schools   

32. Félix V. Matos Rodríguez, CUNY Chancellor   

33. Nequan Mclean, Education Council Consortium, (ECC)    

34. Joan McMaster, Diocese of Brooklyn     

35. Wes Moore, Robin Hood       

36. Michael Mulgrew, UFT       

37. Allison Palmer, ED, New Settlement College Access Center  

38. Shael Polakow-Suransky, Bank Street College of Education  

39. Susan Stamler, United Neighborhood Houses     

40. Robert J Troeller, Local 891, Custodian Engineers  

41. Javier H. Valdés, Make the Road    

42. Dennis Walcott, Queens Public Library     

43. Sheena Wright, President & CEO United Way NY 

44. Michelle Yanche, Good Shepherds Services 

45. Rabbi Dovid Zweibel, Agudath Israel

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