NEW YORK – In the runup to next week’s court hearing in the Wright v. New York case, the Partnership for Educational Justice today launched a campaign highlighting New York’s failed teacher dismissal process and policies. PEJ will highlight a range of cases where tenured teachers cited for egregious misconduct and abuse were allowed to return to the classroom following dismissal proceedings under the State’s 3020a statute.

“We know that quality teaching is the most important factor in determining whether a child succeeds,” said PEJ Founder Campbell Brown. “Yet New York’s education policies place little emphasis on teacher performance – instead, they make it nearly impossible to dismiss teachers engaged in egregious misconduct while doing little to reward high performing teachers. If you’re absent from the classroom without explanation for 113 days in 3 years, you should be replaced by a committed teacher – it’s just common sense.”

Examples from the social campaign are below:

Case # 4932

Case # 5207

Case # 5317

You can find this campaign starting today on PEJ’s social media channels, including Twitter (twitter.com/part4edujustice) and Facebook (facebook.com/Part4EduJustice).

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE

Partnership for Educational Justice helps students, families and communities advocate for the great public schools they deserve through coalition building and legal action. All children, no matter their background or circumstance, deserve access to a sound education. The inequalities that exist in our educational system are the civil rights issue of our time. Motivated by a pervasive lack of meaningful progress in ensuring a supportive learning environment for all students, Partnership for Educational Justice challenges antiquated education laws that prevent public schools from providing all students with an excellent education. Targeted litigation will be supported by an aggressive communications campaign at the local, state and national level. Through its work, Partnership for Educational Justice will mobilize families, community stakeholders and organizations to form effective coalitions that increase pressure on legislators and other decision makers to reform our educational system. Founded by Campbell Brown, an award-winning journalist and writer, Partnership for Educational Justice is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization.

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NEW YORK – The Partnership for Educational Justice today announced that Ralia Polechronis has joined the team as General Counsel. A Harvard Law School graduate, she was most recently a senior litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP.

Ralia has significant education law experience, having led numerous matters representing charter schools and charter school organizations throughout New York City, including matters involving co-location disputes. At PEJ, Ralia will manage national litigation strategy and serve as a key partner and main point of contact for the Partnership’s national and local legal partners.

“As PEJ works toward ensuring a sound basic education for all of our kids, it is critically important that we have talented individuals like Ralia Polechronis on our side,” said Campbell Brown, Founder of the Partnership for Educational Justice. “Ralia’s vast experience, as both a litigator and education advocate, will be a tremendous asset as we help families and students take on the entrenched educational policies that do such a disservice to our children.”

“I am excited to join PEJ’s noble cause and talented team,” said Ralia Polechronis, General Counsel of PEJ. “Our education system is failing our kids and I am looking forward to joining Campbell Brown and the PEJ team in the fight for reform.”

Prior to joining the Partnership, Ralia was a senior litigation associate at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton and Garrison LLP. In that capacity, Ralia represented a broad range of corporate clients in securities, mass tort, class action and breach of contract cases. Ralia also led numerous matters representing charter schools and charter school organizations throughout the city, including matters involving co-location disputes. From 2007-2008, she served as a law clerk to Chief Judge Judith S. Kaye on the New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court.

Ralia holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Boston College. She is an alumna of the New York City Urban Fellowship Program. Ralia currently serves as the board chair of the Math, Engineering and Science Academy Charter High School in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE

Partnership for Educational Justice helps students, families and communities advocate for the great public schools they deserve through coalition building and legal action. All children, no matter their background or circumstance, deserve access to a sound education. The inequalities that exist in our educational system are the civil rights issue of our time. Motivated by a pervasive lack of meaningful progress in ensuring a supportive learning environment for all students, Partnership for Educational Justice challenges antiquated education laws that prevent public schools from providing all students with an excellent education. Targeted litigation will be supported by an aggressive communications campaign at the local, state and national level. Through its work, Partnership for Educational Justice will mobilize families, community stakeholders and organizations to form effective coalitions that increase pressure on legislators and other decision makers to reform our educational system. Founded by Campbell Brown, an award-winning journalist and writer, Partnership for Educational Justice is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization.

Partnership for Educational Justice
Press Contact: Chapin Fay, 212-681-1380

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NEW YORK – The Partnership for Educational Justice today launched a series of online video testimonials of parents sharing their personal stories as they fight to help their children access a high-quality education. To view the new “Our Voices Will Be Heard” testimonial videos, go to:https://www.youtube.com/user/Part4EduJustice.

“These brave parents want what every parent wants – for their child to have access to great teachers and a strong education,” said Reshma Singh, Executive Director of PEJ.  “While all of us recognize the tremendous job a majority of teachers do in giving kids a quality education, it’s also clear that some of the people at the head of the class are not providing effective instruction. After years of feeling shut out from the process, these personal testimonies share a simple message: our voices will be heard.”

The new online video campaign features four of the nine families who are currently challenging state laws that keep ineffective teachers in the classroom, restrict schools from dismissing them and reward seniority over competence. The goal of the campaign is to inform other parents about the case and its impact on families comes just weeks before the motion to dismiss hearing before the New York State courts.

“These brave families are standing up and telling everyone that their voices will be heard. Hopefully these videos will encourage other families to join them in asking the courts to answer a most basic plea – help kids receive a sound basic education,” said Campbell Brown, Founder of the Partnership for Educational Justice.

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE

Partnership for Educational Justice helps students, families and communities advocate for the great public schools they deserve though coalition building and legal action. All children, no matter their background or circumstance, deserve access to a sound education. The inequalities that exist in our educational system are the civil rights issue of our time. Motivated by a pervasive lack of meaningful progress in ensuring a supportive learning environment for all students, Partnership for Educational Justice challenges antiquated education laws that prevent public schools from providing all students with an excellent education. Targeted litigation will be supported by an aggressive communications campaign at the local, state and national level. Through its work, Partnership for Educational Justice will mobilize families, community stakeholders and organizations to form effective coalitions that increase pressure on legislators and other decision makers to reform our educational system. Founded by Campbell Brown, an award-winning journalist and writer, Partnership for Educational Justice is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization.

Partnership for Educational Justice

Press Contact: John Collins, 212 681 1380

NEW YORK – The Wright vs. NY plaintiffs who brought suit in July against the State of NY alleging that the State’s teacher tenure, dismissal and layoff policies violate their children’s constitutional rights filed an Opposition Brief today. The Opposition Brief was submitted to Judge Minardo in Richmond County in Staten Island in response to Motion to Dismiss requests made by various defendants and intervening parties.

In their Opposition Brief, Wright vs. NY parent plaintiffs describe the systemic educational crisis across the state, where ineffective teachers are promoted and retained at extraordinarily high levels but only a third of students are meeting proficiency standards on their English and math exams. Parents also explain why the defendants’ motions to dismiss are meritless and should be denied:

• The parents have stated a claim for relief in their Complaint. Existing case law in NY establishes what research has otherwise confirmed: students can only learn, succeed, and overcome adversity if they are taught by effective teachers. But the statutes the parents are challenging keep too many ineffective teachers in the classroom and ultimately deprive students of their constitutional right to a “sound basic education.”

• Defendants want to shield these harmful laws from judicial scrutiny and insulate their unconstitutional policies from review. But Plaintiffs have standing to file this lawsuit because enforcement of these laws is injuring students statewide every day. Plaintiffs’ children have been taught by ineffective teachers and face the future risk of being taught by other ineffective teachers. They are the very group of people that Article XI of the NY State Constitution is intended to protect.

• Courts play a vital role in our democracy, ensuring that other branches of government don’t deprive citizens of their constitutional
rights. That is what plaintiffs ask the court to do here. Defendants try to paint this as a political dispute, but it is a claim of constitutional dimension that the court should decide.

“The New York Constitution guarantees my son’s right to a sound basic education. I’ve experienced firsthand how quality teachers can make a life-changing difference for my child. But I also know too well the impact of laws that keep ineffective and dangerous teachers in the classroom at the expense of my child’s education. I and other parents deserve our day in court to challenge unconstitutional laws that have harmed, and continue to harm, countless students and families across the state.”—Laurie Townsend, plaintiff, mother of Nakia Townsend, student at PS. 101 in Queens.

The Wright vs. NY plaintiffs who brought suit in July against the State of New York alleging that the State’s teacher tenure, dismissal and layoff policies violate their children’s constitutional rights filed an Opposition Brief today. The Opposition Brief was submitted to Judge Minardo in Richmond County in Staten Island in response to Motion to Dismiss requests made by various defendants and intervening parties.

Full Text: Wright Plaintiffs’ Response to Motion to Dismiss

The New York School Administrators Association filed its Motion to Dismiss papers yesterday in response to our New York parent lawsuit.

Plaintiff Keoni Wright responds:

“Concerns we have about the quality of our children’s education have been ignored or denied at every level. So it comes as no surprise that administrators and bureaucrats claim that parents — those with the largest interest in the well-being of their children — don’t have standing. This is exactly why we have turned to the courts. We won’t be dismissed any longer.”

-Keoni Wright, Plaintiff and Father of 5 from East NY, Brooklyn

NEW YORK – The Partnership for Educational Justice today welcomed Delaine & Roderick Wilson, parents of four daughters, to the lawsuit aimed at reforming New York State’s teacher tenure, dismissal and seniority based lay-off policies. Notably, DeLaine Wilson is a 15-year veteran teacher, having taught in private and traditional public schools in and around Albany.

Mr. & Mrs. Wilson will join eight other families who are challenging state laws that keep ineffective teachers in the classroom, restrict schools from dismissing them and reward seniority over competence.

The Wilsons feel that their teenage daughter is not getting the education she deserves at Albany High School. As a 10th grader, their daughter had several teachers who didn’t provide instruction on a consistent basis and who behaved in ways that expressed disinterest in students or student learning.

“For too long, parents across New York felt that they didn’t have a voice in the future of their child’s education. I am proud to join with brave families like the Wilsons who are standing up and asking for the courts to answer a most basic plea – help kids receive a sound basic education,” said Campbell Brown, Founder of the Partnership for Educational Justice.

“The Partnership for Educational Justice believes in due process and recognizes the tremendous job a majority of teachers do in giving kids a quality education,” said Reshma Singh, Executive Director of PEJ. “However, with so many of our kids failing to achieve their potential, it’s clear that some of the people at the head of the class are not providing effective instruction, and many fellow teachers themselves agree. We proudly welcome DeLaine Wilson, who is the type of teacher we want in all our schools, and her husband and family to this effort.”

ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE

Partnership for Educational Justice helps students, families and communities advocate for the great public schools they deserve though coalition building and legal action. All children, no matter their background or circumstance, deserve access to a sound education. The inequalities that exist in our educational system are the civil rights issue of our time. Motivated by a pervasive lack of meaningful progress in ensuring a supportive learning environment for all students, Partnership for Educational Justice challenges antiquated education laws that prevent public schools from providing all students with an excellent education. Targeted litigation will be supported by an aggressive communications campaign at the local, state and national level. Through its work, Partnership for Educational Justice will mobilize families, community stakeholders and organizations to form effective coalitions that increase pressure on legislators and other decision makers to reform our educational system. Founded by Campbell Brown, an award-winning journalist and writer, Partnership for Educational Justice is a recognized 501(c)(3) organization.

CAPITAL NEW YORK: A New Weapon in Campbell Brown’s Anti-Tenure Lawsuit

By Eliza Shapiro
http://www.capitalnewyork.com/article/city-hall/2014/10/8553868/new-weapon-campbell-browns-anti-tenure-lawsuit?top-featured-3

Campbell Brown’s lawsuit challenging teacher tenure and other union-backed protections is gaining a new plaintiff: a non-union public school teacher from Albany.

DeLaine Wilson, a 15-year veteran pre-school teacher at the North Albany Academy YMCA, said in an interview with Capital on Thursday that New York’s slate of teacher protections academically harmed students in upper grades at her school.

“We had honor roll students [at my school] and when it came to the Regents tests they weren’t able to pass them,” said Wilson, who has four children who attend public schools in Albany and was a member of the New York State United Teachers when previously she taught at a private school.

Adding a public school teacher—albeit a non-union one—to the lawsuit could prove to be a helpful move for Brown’s Partnership for Educational Justice, which is already engaged in a bitter battle with NYSUT and the city’s United Federation of Teachers, along with their affiliates, over tenure.

Wilson, who is joining the lawsuit along with her husband, Roderick Wilson, said she believes eliminating the current teacher tenure laws will “hold more teachers accountable.”

“Tenure makes them comfortable,” she said, addding she would try to convince unionized teachers that potentially eliminating tenure and other protections would help all teachers perform better.

Brown, a former CNN anchor, filed her suit challenging the constitutionality of teacher tenure, dismissal and seniority laws in July. The lawsuit is being handled pro bono by a team of lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis. The case was recently consolidated with a similar lawsuit and formal legal proceedings are unlikely to begin until at least December.

Carl Korn, a spokesman for NYSUT, said of the new plaintiff: “due process allows teachers to speak up for what their students need. We are going to vigorously defend due process and basic fairness.”

Partnership for Educational Justice
Press Contact: John Collins, 212 681 1380

“We welcome the decision in yesterday’s proceedings to consolidate the case to ensure a quality teacher in every New York classroom. Our mission is to support the courageous parents who are fighting for the sound education the New York Constitution guarantees their kids, and adding additional parents will only strengthen our effort. We intend to demonstrate in court what too many families across the state have found: quality teachers are being laid off simply due to lack of seniority while it remains nearly impossible to dismiss teachers that have continually failed students.”

New York Families Announce Historic Lawsuit Challenging Teacher Tenure Laws

Suit Will Charge That Complicated Teacher Removal Process Violates State Constitutional Guarantee of a Sound Basic Education

New Organization – Partnership for Educational Justice – Formed to Provide Structure and Support for Families

NEW YORK – Six families from across New York State today announced the planned filing of a lawsuit that will challenge teacher tenure laws that keep ineffective and even dangerous teachers in the classroom.
The lawsuit, which will be filed in Albany in the next few weeks, charges that the State’s complicated teacher tenure and removal process – including “Last In, First Out” mandates and archaic, costly teacher tenure and disciplinary statutes – violates the State Constitution’s guarantee of a sound basic education to all students.
“We want the best for our kids – and that starts with a great education and great teachers in the classroom,” said Carla and John Williams from Rochester, NY, one of the six families involved in the lawsuit. “But our daughter simply isn’t getting the instruction and learning she needs, and our school leaders and local elected officials aren’t taking steps to support effective teachers. The reality is that this lawsuit is a last resort. We are acting because leaders in Albany have not.”
In conjunction with the parents’ lawsuit, the Partnership for Educational Justice (PEJ) formally launched its efforts to provide the families and students with organizational and financial support as they take on the entrenched educational policies.
PEJ has been meeting with families and education advocates around these issues since the fall of 2013. The lawsuit comes just weeks after a California Court ruled that similar teacher tenure and retention laws violated the state’s Constitution and the right to equal opportunity to an education.
“As a journalist, I spent my professional life helping people tell their stories – and now as a parent, I’m advocating for these families to have their voices heard. They want what all families want, a sound basic education for their kids,” said Campbell Brown, Founder of the Partnership for Educational Justice. “Year after year our politicians have failed to act on common sense reforms. These families feel they no choice but to ask the courts to step in. All of New York’s children deserve access to a great education and these families will not wait another day.”
The families will receive pro bono representation and counsel of various attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis, including Jay Lefkowitz who has represented parents and organizations seeking meaningful reform in education for the last two decades and has litigated charter operator cases in several states.
Brown provided the seed funding for PEJ with a bipartisan group of donors also supporting the effort to provide every child access to a quality teacher and education. Education advocate Reshma Singh will serve as the new organization’s Executive Director.
“Effective teachers are essential to providing high quality, inspiring education. And yet, failed education laws here in New York promote seniority over performance and fail to remove ineffective and dangerous teachers from the classroom. It’s wrong,” Singh said. “Our bipartisan group will give these families – and families across the state – the support they need to bring common sense back into the classroom and make sure New York students have access to quality teachers.”
KEY POINTS IN LAWSUIT AGAINST COMPLICATED NYS TEACHER TENURE RULES
Families are suing the State of New York, claiming that the institutionalized retention of ineffective teachers deprives each child of their right to a sound basic education as guaranteed under the New York State Constitution. There are three basic claims:
1. Similar to the recent ground-breaking Vergara ruling in California, the lawsuit will specifically challenge the “Last In, First Out” mandate in New York, stating that the policy of forcing school districts to base layoffs on seniority – not a teacher’s performance in the classroom – violates the state constitution by denying students access to effective teachers.

2. Also similar to Vergara, the lawsuit will claim that New York’s Tenure Statute forces administrators to either grant or deny permanent lifetime employment after three years – an arbitrary time period that does not provide administrators enough time to determine a teachers’ effectiveness. Also similar to Vergara, the suit claims that the complicated disciplinary statutes make it nearly impossible to fire or discipline ineffective teachers –creating a burdensome, costly, and lengthy process that rarely removes ineffective teachers.

3. Also similar to Vergara, the suit claims that the complicated disciplinary statutes make it nearly impossible to fire or discipline ineffective teachers – creating a burdensome, costly, and lengthy process that rarely removes ineffective teachers.

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ABOUT THE PARTNERSHIP FOR EDUCATIONAL JUSTICE
Partnership for Educational Justice helps students, families and communities advocate for the great public schools they deserve though coalition building and legal action. All children, no matter their background or circumstance, deserve access to a sound education. The inequalities that exist in our educational system are the civil rights issue of our time. Motivated by a pervasive lack of meaningful progress in ensuring a supportive learning environment for all students, Partnership for Educational Justice challenges antiquated education laws that prevent public schools from providing all students with an excellent education. Targeted litigation will be supported by an aggressive communications campaign at the local, state and national level. Through its work, Partnership for Educational Justice will mobilize families, community stakeholders and organizations to form effective coalitions that increase pressure on legislators and other decision makers to reform our educational system.
Founded by Campbell Brown, an award-winning journalist and writer, Partnership for Educational Justice is in the process of becoming a 501c3 organization.