At a City Council hearing on parent involvement, parents were not shy about saying that they do not feel that they are as much of a priority as is frequently stated by Education Department officials, given they have no real say on the Panel for Educational Policy, the community education councils or in school closings.

In the news, a new Queens high school is in a state of confusion over scheduling, with students experiencing changes to their day as many as 10 times since the school year started, Gotham Schools reports. The principal of Queens Metropolitan High School said she had been working night and day to try to clear up the mess.

Four of the borough presidents and the city’s public advocate are recommending that community education council elections be run by an outside group and that parents be allowed to vote directly for the representatives.

Former school teachers and principals, political aides and the spokeswoman for two Congressional leaders are among the people in Chancellor Dennis M. Walcott’s cabinet.