Bethany Bump | Albany Times Union
“A pro-charter school group says the state Education Department’s recent removal of 70 schools from New York’s struggling schools program violates state law.
StudentsFirstNY is warning the department that if it doesn’t put the schools back into the program it will ‘explore all available remedies to ensure compliance with the law,’ according to a letter sent Thursday to Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia.
The program was adopted last year in response to the state’s new receivership law, which gave unprecedented authority to superintendents at chronically low-performing schools to turn problems around by firing staff, overhauling curriculum, and extending the school day or year, among other things. If they couldn’t demonstrate progress over a one- or two-year timeframe, the state could appoint an outside receiver to take over the schools.”