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status quo

No ruling in court date, decision on co-location lawsuit delayed

A highly-anticipated day in court in a fight over school closures and co-locations ended in a draw Tuesday afternoon, with both sides agreeing to keep a restraining order on any immediate plans for new schools.

Judge Paul Feinman extended a temporary restraining order against the city’s plans but said he needed more time to decide whether the plans should be halted permanently.

That means the Department of Education is still prohibited from moving forward with any construction or renovation plans meant to set district school buildings up for co-location.

That isn’t a huge concern at the moment, though, because school doesn’t end for another week. The earliest planned construction for a co-location is at Brandeis High School, where the Upper West Success Academy is slated to open in the fall. That construction is supposed to begin July 1, but in a separate lawsuit, Feinman ordered a temporary stay construction there as well.

Feinman isn’t likely to make a decision until after June 27, when the Panel for Educational Policy holds its next meeting. At that meeting, which some lawyers referred to as “D Day,” the PEP will vote on revised co-location plans for almost all of the charter schools listed in the lawsuit.

Three charter schools were dropped from the lawsuit, UFT’s top lawyer, Charles Moerdler, disclosed in court. He said the schools – Girls Preparatory Academy and Promise Academy 1 and 2 –  reached an agreement with its respective Community Education Councils, who then requested that the plaintiffs remove the schools.

Moerdler explained he did so because “they made an effort to try and deal with them as equals. There’s been no such effort from the others.”

Moerdler also made clear his dissatisfaction with charter school protests against the NAACP’s role in the lawsuit and he offered an ultimatum to them regarding a possible settlement:

“I will not meet with any of them until there is an apology to the NAACP. I don’t even want to talk to them,” he said.

  • Marat

    Good for you Moedler, how dare Moskowitz and Canada’s people try to tarnish the NAACP.

    Apologize!!!!!!

  • Sick of Bloomberg

    Ah, the smell of ignorance in the air!! “Instead of fighting for the civil rights of all of us, they are trampling the civil rights of my little girl,” charter school parent Kathleen Kernizan said.
    “Civil” rights are not guaranteed to students at “Private” schools that are disguised as “Charter” schools so they can STEAL public funds. Should we also set up “charter” subways, “charter” rods, “charter” hospitals that only a select few may use but are paid for with public funds?????? Wake up people, stop the madness. PUBLIC funds belong in PUBLIC schools.

  • Charterreform

     Charter health insurance, Charter military….. oops. We already have Blackwater Security and the private insurance companies. Those work well right?

  • Anonymous

    Adam Ross UFT attorney said no charter schools would be dropped from the lawsuit until the DOE signed a stipulation which they have not yet done.

  • PS Mom
  • Ploco

    As per this quote it’s these petulant child power plays that get to one of the many roots of the dysfunction; “I will not meet with any of them until there is an apology to the NAACP. I don’t even want to talk to them,” he said.  Way to disenfranchise public school parents, you know if you get your way and these schools don’t open those parents who protested are now parents in district schools, you know the ones you don’t want to talk to…

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