{"id":627644,"date":"2026-03-02T21:05:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T21:05:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/627644\/"},"modified":"2026-03-02T21:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T21:05:11","slug":"the-survey-is-in-parent-coordinators-told-us-what-they-want-the-city-to-know-about-their-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/627644\/","title":{"rendered":"The survey is in: Parent coordinators told us what they want the city to know about their jobs."},"content":{"rendered":"

Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter<\/a> to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered to your inbox.<\/p>\n

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani wants to change the role of parent coordinators in the city\u2019s schools \u2014 making each one \u201ca meaningful organizer of parents, rather than an administrative coordinator reporting to a principal.<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n

Chalkbeat asked parent coordinators how they see their roles and what they want the mayor to know. <\/p>\n

We heard from nearly 360 current parent coordinators, a number that represents nearly 20% of the positions in the city. <\/p>\n

You can read a sampling of what they had to say below, but one message was clear: Parent coordinators want to be heard and included in the decisions made about them. And they have lots of ideas for making schools and communities stronger.<\/p>\n

Their most important job, they said, is serving as a bridge between parents and schools. Several wrote that their work is especially important for newly arrived families, who may be afraid to engage with government agencies, and for families of students with disabilities. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen parents trust the school and feel confident reaching out, students benefit academically, socially, and emotionally,\u201d wrote Melissa De Los Santos, <\/b>a parent coordinator in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Many parent coordinators said that because the city does not clearly define their roles, they end up taking care of a myriad of loose ends at their schools. They are de-facto tech support, attendance monitors, public health messengers, and counselors for parents and kids. <\/p>\n

When asked if they were adequately paid, the response was an emphatic and overwhelming \u201cabsolutely not\u201d \u2014 often in all caps. In the words of Mariela Chevry, a parent coordinator in Manhattan, \u201cLove doesn\u2019t pay the bills.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city created the role of parent coordinator in 2003, a year after the state legislature implemented mayoral control, transferring authority over New York City school budgets, curriculums, and closures from elected community school boards to the mayor.<\/p>\n

Then-chancellor Joel Klein told the first-ever cohort of parent coordinators that their jobs were proof that the city was committed to parental involvement.<\/p>\n

Now, with Mamdani calling to extend mayoral control under his own tenure, his administration is pointing to parent coordinators as essential players once again. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to build the capacity of our parent coordinators,\u201d said schools chancellor Kamar Samuels at a Feb. 10 City Council hearing on mayoral control. \u201cWe need to invest more in our parent coordinators and their training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are parent coordinators\u2019 top suggestions for the Mamdani administration.<\/b><\/p>\n

1) Clarify the job description and consider alternative supervision structures<\/p>\n

Parent coordinators are often pulled between their responsibility to parents and their accountability to principals, who have significant control over their workloads, salaries, and time off. One of their primary jobs is to help parents bring concerns and complaints to school staff, which can get tricky when administrators and parents disagree. Because their contracts are vague, parent coordinators say their time often gets eaten by administrative tasks outside of the scope of their jobs. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf I had [to] describe my role it would be closest to a school aid, handling all tasks I\u2019m asked to do even though they don\u2019t relate to my title directly … Both the contract and role and responsibilities documentation are very vague.\u201d \u2014 Dilyon Stanislaus<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are expected to listen to the concerns of every parent we come across as well as providing resources, creating activities, bring up parent engagement numbers, have answers to all questions, be the face of the school, advocate for parents, all while being asked to do the work of others just because we are support staff and because our contract doesn\u2019t specifically say what we are allowed to say no to.\u201d \u2014 Jennifer Colon<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cClear protections, expectations, and respect for the role would allow parent coordinators to focus on what we do best \u2014 supporting families, advocating for students, and helping schools function effectively.\u201d \u2014 Madelin Lopez<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the backbone of the relationship between DOE\/admin\/faculty and families … a tenuous relationship for sure. We are treated like customer service representatives when in fact we are community stewards.\u201d \u2014 Fernando Maneca<\/b><\/p>\n

2) Improve pay and benefits, making time off comparable to other full-time school staff<\/p>\n

Salaries for new hires start at $44,000 a year, going up to just under $74,000 for those who have already worked for the city for two years. Unlike most school staff, parent coordinators work year-round, with no summers off. They often need to be available early mornings, evenings, and weekends. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need decent pay that adjusts to [the] cost of living.\u201d \u2014 Sergio Borrero<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cHigher pay and summers off. We are overworked and undervalued.\u201d \u2014 Jackie Cartagena<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cNot only are we not paid well \u2026 it feels like we are a dumping ground. If this group can\u2019t do it, doesn\u2019t want to do it, just have the [parent coordinator] figure it out \u2026 Since we are on the appreciation topic, we have teacher appreciation day, we have principal and AP appreciation day. PC appreciation day? We don\u2019t have that. Give us our flowers, we work hard and schools would fall apart without us.” \u2014 Mariela Chevry<\/b><\/p>\n

Inspiration, advice, and best practices for the classroom \u2014 learn from teachers like you.<\/p>\n

Across all of our bureaus, Chalkbeat reporters interview educators with interesting, effective approaches to teaching students and leading their schools. Get the best of How I Teach sent to your inbox for free every month.<\/p>\n

3) Elevate respect and include parent coordinators in decisions about their schools and districts<\/p>\n

Parent coordinators want to be treated like professionals. Many want formal training and opportunities to move forward in their careers. Despite being the school staff most in touch with parents\u2019 concerns, they are often excluded from decision-making about their schools and districts.<\/p>\n

The parent coordinator position has historically been treated as an underdog role in schools, and many principals already fail to show the respect the position deserves.” \u2014 Vanessa Murray<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cParent coordinators are more than the bridge that connects parents to the admin and school. We are a lifeline to many in our school community … We need to be seen and heard and deserve so much more respect.\u201d \u2014 Illiana Rosario-Urban<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cI would love for the mayor to sit down with parent coordinators from the different districts so he can hear directly from us \u2014 both our passion for the work and the challenges we face.\u201d \u2014 Lynette Bradshaw<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cParent Coordinators should be afforded clearer pathways for advancement and professional development. This could include access to at least two paid classes per semester, greater schedule flexibility, and guaranteed summers off. There is little justification for requiring Parent Coordinators to work throughout the summer performing duties unrelated to family engagement, often \u2026 without meaningful choice or autonomy.\u201d \u2014 Madelin Lopez<\/b><\/p>\n

Abigail Kramer is a reporter in New York City. Contact Abigail at akramer@chalkbeat.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sign up for Chalkbeat New York\u2019s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC\u2019s public schools delivered…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":627645,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,13081,267953,40981,221265,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,13082,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-627644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-bestof","tag-childcare-center-in-brooklyn","tag-getty-editorial","tag-mayor-zohran-mamdani","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-topix","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116161617907571503","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627644","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627644\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}