If some uptown Manhattan parents have their way, District 6, which covers northern Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood, would no longer have zoned elementary schools. The district's Community Education Council (CEC), a parent panel which has some authority -- along with the Education Department -- to decide school zones is hosting meetings this week to hear what parents think of thiree different proposals to change the zoning..

Bryan Davis, a parent on the CEC and a proponent of the de-zoning, says the plan is designed to give all parents equal access to all schools and to empower them to make their own choices, according to DNAInfo.com. But, if recent meetings are any indication, parents are concerned that the plan to give them choice, could actually backfire. Parents who move to a particular zone because of the school could find themselves closed out of that school, and instead have to travel to a distant neighborhood.

While school choice has become the norm for high school, and middle schools in many districts under Mayor Bloomberg, the only district that has no zoned elementary schools is tiny District 1 on the Lower East Side. District 6 has more than twice as many students as District 1, according to the DOE statistics from 2011. District 1 has 17 elementary schools, many enrolling fewer than 400 pupils. District 6 has 25 schools, half of which enroll more than 600 students. There are already about a half-dozen schools in District 6 which are unzoned and have their own application but proponents of the new plan say many district residents don't know about those options.

As the DOE and the parent council consider the proposal, parents can weigh in. There's a meeting on Oct. 18 from 7 to 10 p.m. at PS 48, and on Oct. 19 from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at PS 278. The council's zoning committee will host public hearings on Oct. 17 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the building shared by PS 192 and PS 325; on Oct. 25 from 6 to 8 p.m. at PS 115 and on Nov. 1 from 6 to 8 pm at PS 98.

Can't go to a meeting? Email your comments or questions to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 347-735-6486.
Read more on DNAInfo.com and the Wall Street Journal.

Click here to download the District 6 proposals.