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The Council of School Supervisors and Administrators is suing Mayor Bloomberg, the city, and the Department of Education for refusing to restore thousands of parking permits to the union’s members.

According to the union, an arbitrator decided in August that the city had to return the permits or it would violate its contract with CSA. But that decision hasn’t ended the back-and-forth. After two weeks of discussions, the union’s legal counsel headed to court today to file a lawsuit.

“Nobody has gotten an answer from the City about why it won’t honor the arbitration,” a spokeswoman for CSA, Chiara Coletti, wrote in an email. Coletti said that the decision not to reinstate the 6,500 permits came from the mayor’s office.

Jason Post, a spokesman for the mayor, did not address whether the city felt it was in compliance with the arbitrator’s decision, but said the current system should continue.

“For most City agencies and their workers the system has worked well for over a year, yet the CSA has stubbornly tried to hold onto their perks and has refused to work with us to combat misuse and abuse. The current system for the Department of Education limits the number of placards to the number of parking spots at schools, a fair and reasonable policy that we think should continue. We have not yet received the legal papers for this case,” Post wrote in an email. (more…)

New York City elementary school teacher-blogger Mimi has been keeping us updated on the parking permit distribution process at her school. She reports that some teachers lied about their commute to get passes — but here’s how her principal (a.k.a. “the Visionary”) handled the situation:

The Visionary also sent around a chart which included the names of everyone who requested a pass, their REPORTED mileage, their ACTUAL mileage and, my favorite column, the DIFFERENCE between those two numbers. …

[O]ne individual reported that she lives 55 miles away, when in fact her distance from school is a mere 22 miles. Wrong double digits, sweetheart. Another one of my favorites was the group of people who requested a pass, yet live less than one mile from school.

In July, when the city announced cuts in the number of free parking permits for teachers, I asked for comments on the fairest ways to distribute permits and how it played out in schools. Here’s what teachers on the internet are saying.

Miss Malarkey, who wrote that the new parking policy seems like “another slap at the veteran teachers,” is thinking about what to take out of her over-sized handbag, which will ring true for those who’ve carried science supplies, rolls of chart paper, or stacks of student journals on a bus or train:

The neighborhood I work in is not great. There have been muggings and purse snatchings near the school, and I feel vulnerable walking, weighted down by all my stuff.

Jonathan, who teaches in the Bronx, is concerned that the old system of more permits than spaces was more fair than the favoritism going on at many schools now that the principal and union chapter leader distribute permits. And some schools aren’t easily accessed by transit, he points out:

I am a big fan of public transport. I use it, where it is practical. The tyranny of the upper east side rich poking at middle class schlubs who need to drive is infuriating.  Meeting in Manhattan? Of course I jump on the train. Meeting on the other side of the Bronx? What, are you kidding?

Mimi agrees that permits are not being distributed fairly: (more…)

Image courtesy Gotham Gazette.

With the city cutting parking permits for teachers from more than 63,000 to about 11,000 — though not cutting the number of available spaces — I’m curious how readers think this change will affect teachers. Will more take public transit or carpool?

Principals and union reps are supposed to meet to decide a fair system for each school, to take effect in early October. Teachers: what would you like to see? Should permits be distributed according to seniority? Length of commute? Lack of public transit options? Other factors such as family needs? Or should they be given out by lottery, on a rotating basis, or in some kind of shared pool?

Leave your ideas in the comments, and, as the school year gets started, keep us updated on how this plays out.