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Thursday, March 7, 2013

NYC Public School Parents: NYC parents sue DOE for failure to comply with public feedback required aw

NYC Public School Parents: NYC parents sue DOE for failure to comply with public feedback required aw:


NYC parents sue DOE for failure to comply with public feedback required aw


The Campaign for Fiscal Equity and the Education Law Center have filed a lawsuit on behalf of New York City parents against the NYC Department of Education for failing to hold the Contracts for Excellence borough hearings required by law, and for scheduling the Community Education Council presentations late in the year after much of the C4E funding has been spent. Here’s an article in the Daily News about the lawsuit; the legal papers are posted at the Albany Times Union website. 

The CEC meetings that the DOE claims as substitutes (though both borough hearings and CEC meetings are required by law) are often scheduled at the last minute, are scantily attended, and feature sketchy presentations by District and network staff who are unable to answer questions.   This year many of the CEC meetings are being held after the deadline for public comment is past, which is March 18.

While the Governor and the State Education Commissioner have been insistent that their arbitrary deadlines must be met for a new teacher evaluation system, or they will punish our kids with budget cuts, they have ignored the fact that the DOE has missed deadlines for years in implementing a real public process and coming up with a real plan to reduce class size.   Meanwhile, Judge Manuel Mendez also blocked the Mayor’s attempt