December 10, 2007 -- Fewer than 25 percent of the councils that replaced the city's former community school boards in 2004 are fully staffed, The Post has learned.
Of the 32 Community Education Councils, only seven have filled all 11 slots, while 10 have three or more vacancies, the Department of Education said.
District 9 in The Bronx and District 16 in Brooklyn were even unable to vote on measures until last month because they'd filled fewer than six spots.
"We couldn't conduct or address any business because we didn't have enough people," said George Rivera, one of just three District 9 members last summer.
That Education ignored requests for assistance from July, when a new crop of council members took over for a two-year term, until last month "is willful neglect of this district," Rivera charged.
And many council members complain that, instead of relaying community concerns to help guide department policy, they typically serve only to announce Education changes after the fact.
Each council has nine elected parents and two borough-president appointees.
