New York state’s powerful teachers’ union has filed a lawsuit to block the opening of three new charter schools on Long Island, claiming they amount to a “threat” to public education.
The State University of New York approved the applications for the Academy Charter School network to open an elementary and a middle school in Brentwood and a high school in Central Islip.
But the New York State United Teachers, which represents educators in the Suffolk County school districts, filed suit in Albany Supreme Court this week, claiming SUNY’s approval violated the law.
“This entity has repeatedly ignored state law by dismissing community voices and overriding education experts in order to rubber-stamp charter applications,” NYSUT President Melinda Person claimed in announcing the lawsuit late Tuesday.
“That is an abuse of its authority as a charter authorizer and a threat to public schools and the communities they serve,” Person said. “Public education works best when decisions are made with communities — not imposed on them — and that principle is worth defending.”
Person said the suit highlights the dysfunction created by New York’s dual charter authorizing system. Under state law, charter school applicants can get approved by SUNY’s Charter School Institute, even if state Education Department officials object.
SUNY charter school regulators said Academy filed solid proposals for the three schools — and dismissed the union’s lawsuit as nonsense.
“I don’t really understand it,” Joseph Belluck, chairman of the SUNY charter school committee, said of the NYSUT complaint.
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“We followed the process under the law,” Belluck said. “We have a very thorough process we put applicants through. I don’t think there’s a strong legal argument [against the charter school authorizations].”
The applications submitted by Academy also included dozens of letters of support, including from some elected officials.
The Academy network operates other charter schools with strong academic track records in Hempstead, Uniondale and Wyandach, SUNY officials said in reports approving the applications.
“SUNY’s application process is lauded nationally for its rigor, and our high standards and strong authorizing practices have cultivated the strongest charter school portfolio in the state and one of the strongest in the country,” said SUNY Charter Schools Institute spokesman Mike Lesczinski. “We are aware of the lawsuits and will have an opportunity to respond in court.”
Other elected officials, including Assemblyman Phil Ramos, were opposed to the new charter schools, along with the officials with the Brentwood and Central Islip school districts.
A rep for the Brentwood school district claimed the approved charter schools would enroll fewer economically disadvantaged and at-risk students than neighboring traditional public schools, and divert public funds from Brentwood’s other schools.
Charter schools are privately managed, publicly funded alternative schools that typically operate with a long school day and often outperform neighboring traditional public or district schools on state English and math exams.
Many of the charter schools have staffers who don’t belong to unions, unlike regular public schools.
There are more than 350 charter schools operating in the state, with 285 of them in New York City.
