Just over 500 parents nominated themselves to fill 325 seats on district and citywide parent councils, with the citywide councils for high school and English Language Learners getting more than 70 candidates each. Several of the 32 district councils only attracted five or six candidates.

Citywide and District Community Education Councils are parent advisory boards that approve zoning changes and offer recommendations on Department of Education policies, particularly on how school buildings should be used. The councils, which replaced the old school boards, have little actual power and their monthly meetings are usually not well-attended. Each council has nine parent elected representatives and two appointees from either the borough president or the Public Advocate.

The Citywide Council of English Language Learners wascreated just a year ago. The Department of Education, the  New York Immigration Coalition and Advocates for Children made a big push to get parents to serve, with out much luck: only 18 parents applied.

This year, all the outreach material was translated into nine languages and advertisements were placed in several foreign language newspapers, said DOE spokesperson Deidrea Miller. "That obviously paid off. The translations show we have a place for parents to feel comfortable and they are going to be in a place with people who have similar issues," she said.

The nominations have not yet been vetted by the Office of Family Information and Actionand some parents will be asked to withdraw due to a conflict of interest; others may drop out  once they find out exactly what is entailed in serving.  Miller said that many parents may have applied to serve on various councils and will only be allowed to serve on one.

Of the Community District Education Councils, tiny District 1, on the Lower East Side, had the most applicants with 44, followed by District 2, with 25. Only District 32, in Bushwick, does not have the six parents necessary to make a quorum at meetings. Several other districts -- 7 in the South Bronx, 16 in Bedford Stuyvesant, and 19 and 23 in East New York, have just six applicants.  Surprisingly, District 26, which includes mostly middle class neighborhoods like Bayside and Douglaston and boasts some of  the top-performing schools in the city, only had eight applicants.

No word yet on whether the push from the New York City Charter School Center to get parents from charter schools to nominate themselves has worked. Only those charter school parents who also have a child in a district school or who have had one enrolled in the past two years, may serve.

Forums introducing the candidates are being held this week and next, through May 5.  Only PTA and PA officers may vote in the council elections, although parents may cast advisory votes online between May 1 and 7. Official elections are held May 10-17. For a full rundown on the rules and regulations, see Power to the Parents website.

The breakdown of applicants by district and citywide council is at right.