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Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum is less than impressed that 78% of the city's parent coordinators did not return calls in a survey by her office.
But Queens did better than most, she found.
Out of 20 schools contacted, coordinators at 75% of them either picked up the phone or called back her office workers, who were posing as parents new to the school.
Parent coordinators fumed at Gotbaum last week.
"It's a deceiving number," said Public School 128 coordinator Melissa Phillips.
"The phone calls are such a small part of what we do for parents," she said at a Community Education Council meeting for District 24 on April 29.
A District 24 worker added that 16 of the district's city-issued cell phones - more than 30% - were broken and never replaced.
The parent coordinator job was created in a 2002 mayoral initiative to provide better access to school administrators.
A coordinator must convene parent meetings, attend other parent meetings, organize school events, maintain contact with community groups, increase parent involvement and act as a facilitator between parents and the school.
After-hours work is mandatory and the city provides cell phones so coordinators can take evening calls.
The average salary is less than $40,000 a year.
Most parent coordinators do not pick up calls after 5 p.m., according to Gotbaum's survey.
"I'm not damning the whole program," said Gotbaum. "I'm just saying this survey just keeps getting worse."
In 2004, 62% of messages left for parent coordinators were not returned.
Gotbaum's study of 100 schools found coordinators with nonworking numbers, no voice mail to leave a message, and in some cases, the position was unfilled. The city spends $68 million a year on the positions.
