Renata Caldeira testifies on civic engagement guardrails
The first public panel is called, including Renata Caldeira, Elizabeth Shattuck, Susie Gomez, and Victor Medina. Renata Caldeira describes a school fundraiser vote involving young students and asks for DOE guidance, parent notification, and release of OSI findings.
Jeffrey Rohim, if I miss.
Great.
Renata Calderada.
Renata, if I say your name wrong, please correct me.
Elizabeth Shadock.
Oh, come on up.
Susie Gomez.
And Victor Medina.
That's right.
As she should.
Thank you.
I have the tape.
I want to pass it down.
Okay, first, good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
Chairs Eric Dinowitz and Ms.
Rita Joseph.
My name is Renata Caldeira.
I am a parent of a New York Public City School student.
I am a resident of Forest Hills, and I'm also a constituent of a council member woman.
Member, sorry, Lynn Schumann.
And I am here to show support for the seal of civic readiness and the hands-on civics in today's resolution.
The seal rewards civic participation and youthful voice.
And I'm here to show you what happens when hands-on civics has not guardrails.
And civic readiness doesn't start in high school.
My child is in elementary school.
Her civic engagement started back in March of 2026.
Despite not having the understanding, the impact of her vote,
She had a voting happening in her school for a fundraiser to return.
One sec.
In November 2025, the principal of our school wrote to me that she did not keep daily tracks of this fundraiser.
And that is contest to why I'm saying this in the testimony.
She could not say what was the earning come, and our district superintendent was copied in this correspondence.
That is going to be in Exhibit A when I submit my written testimony to you guys.
And in January, the complaint was referred to the DOE Office of Special Investigations in March.
In doing civics for all week, students as young as six voted on a DOE Google form to bring the same fundraiser back.
That class poster said, it's time to practice your civic duty, and they got iVote stickers.
Parent got no advance notice.
This is Exhibit E.
From December to June, adults blamed my family online, even using children's votes against us, but we voted as we see in the Exhibit D.
On April 13, the superintendent told parents that the results would be published.
That's Exhibit C.
And in June, the cell came back under new name.
Our children were taught that the vote was real and a question adults were still investigating.
That's not civic wetness.
As you push the DOE to expand hands-on civics, I ask two things for your committee.
First, require DOE guidance that stood the civic votes and projects from kindergarten up.
never involve fundraisers or matters under investigation, and that parents are notified firsthand before votes.
Second, clear guardrails of policies to safeguard children from misguided civic engagement.
And third, please ask the DOE to release the OSI findings as promised so these students can see that accountability is also part of a service too.
Thank you, and my full written testimony and exhibits will be submitted by email.
Thank you.
Is that your daughter?
Yes.
Is she testifying?
Do you want to say anything on the record?
Okay.
That was the daughter who voted?
So the blood raisers.