Parents have a little known - and rarely used - weapon to fight unfavorable decisions regarding their children's education in New York City public schools: an appeal to the state Commissioner of Education. Under Section 310 of the New York State Education Law, parents may, in general, appeal to the commissioner if they believe state education laws or regulations have been violated. They may also turn to the commissioner for violations of city school regulations, known as Chancellor's Regulations. And in some cases, they may even wield Section 310 to fight state or local policies on matters ranging from grading to suspension. In general, any official act of an official or meeting can be subject to a Section 310 appeal.

There is a catch, however: parents do not have a lot of time to act. Their appeal must be launched within 30 days of the disputed decision or action. (Let's take the example of parents who believe their child should be promoted to the next grade, even though the district superintendent insists that he be held back. The parents must file their appeal within 30 days of when the superintendent issued his decision.)

If 30 days lapse, parents may still petition the state but must cite "good cause" reasons why they were late, and these excuses are rarely accepted. Thus, if you can, you must try to appeal within the timeframe. (Some actions do not have official "dates" of decision; they may be continuing violations. Determining when the 30-day clocks start ticking is decided on a case-by-case basis.)

Certain types of problems must be appealed to the NYC Chancellor before going to the Commissioner. Appeals of suspension decisions, for example, must follow local appeals procedures detailed in city education regulations (Chancellor's Regulation A-443) before they can be heard by the commissioner. There may exceptions in cases where there is urgent need for a ruling and the city is moving too slowly.

See the State Education Department's website for information on filing an appeal to the commissioner: