Smith, Ayana2023-05-192023-05-192023-05-19https://hdl.handle.net/1813/113171This research explores the role that community education councils have within the community schooling framework. Through conducting seven stakeholder interviews and archival data, I answer the following central research question: “How are community education councils influencing local civic and political participation within their service areas?” From this process, I find that (1) community leaders conceptualize whole-child education as contributing to initiatives that fall outside of traditional purviews of public education; (2) current and past initiatives from community education councils include supporting the improvement of low-income housing for tenants within the community, reducing food insecurity that was amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic, and building community power; and (3) community education council representatives leveraged community resources, built relationships, and tapped into their own power to organize these initiatives. These findings underscore both theoretical and practical movements toward whole-child education being spearheaded by local leadership despite decades-long political struggles around collaborative governance over NYC Public Schools. From this research, I deepen our understanding of how communities are leveraging community education councils as critical social infrastructure in the movement toward urban education reformen-USUrban EducationUrban GovernanceCommunity OrganizingCommunity Schoolingdissertation or thesis