Why Parents Opt Out and Our Lawsuit vs The City on School Leadership Team Meetings

August 28, 2015

Dear Friends,

A few quick links I wanted to share with you.

Last week, I wrote an op-ed with Jeanette Deutermann of Long Island Opt for City and State about why an estimated 225,000 NY parents chose to have their children refuse the state exams last year. Despite the rash of editorials excoriating parents for doing so, we point out how this was a completely rational decision based on the inappropriate nature of these exams and the damaging effects they have had on our schools. Check out our piece here. An eloquent column from today’s Black Agenda convincingly argues that the real purpose of these tests is to undermine democracy and local control of our schools.

2. For those of you who live in NYC, I wanted to update you on our lawsuit vs. the city to keep School Leadership Team meetings open to the public. The city and the DOE made several inaccurate statements in their most recent legal filings, asking the court to allow them to close SLT meetings while they prepare to appeal the contrary decision by NY Supreme Court Justice Peter Moulton. Sue Edelman of the NY Post wrote about their false claims on Sunday. I provide a more detailed rebuttal of their arguments that it would be an “enormous effort” to open these meetings and that it would reverse the status quo of nearly twenty years on the NYC Public School Parents blog.

Enjoy the last two weeks of summer, and talk to you soon!

Thanks,

Leonie Haimson
Executive Director
Class Size Matters
124 Waverly Pl.
New York, NY 10011
212-529-3539

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