FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Testimony on Behalf of Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine
Re: Resolution 280 to Affirm CEC2’s Support of NYCPS’s Guidelines to Support Transgender and Gender Expansive Students & Rescind Resolution 248
Community Education Council 2
July 9, 2025
Community Education Councils play a vital role in policy-making and local engagement, and should spend their time, energy, and resources to ensure that our school system meets the needs of every single student. Every person on this CEC and every family in this district can agree there is work to do, and that there are students in this district that need additional support, additional protection, and more resources.
In March 2024, this CEC failed this standard and chose to pass a resolution that is entirely disconnected from any of the real educational challenges in the district. Resolution 248 is hateful, and uses transphobic language to call for the reconsideration of guidelines that were put in place to ensure that no student, regardless of their gender identity or expression, would be discriminated against.
In the almost year and a half since that resolution passed, concerned parents, students, and community members have testified meeting after meeting, standing up for themselves and rallying around their transgender classmates and neighbors. The DOE Chancellor issued a firm statement of rejection, and my fellow elected officials and I have repeatedly called for this resolution to be rescinded. We have heard stories of the love and support that many transgender students and parents receive from their teachers, peers, and school staff every day. They have also shared the pain caused by Resolution 248 and its message that transgender students are not welcome. And they have asked the CEC to rescind Resolution 248 and reaffirm that all kids, including transgender kids, are safe and welcome in District 2.
Now, as a new CEC term begins, it is time for CEC2 to stand up for transgender students, to reject culture war ideology, and to get back to the business of supporting our students and our schools.
It is time to rescind Resolution 248.
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