GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

A group of city parents, including State Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries, has filed the second legal challenge to the appointment of publishing executive Cathie Black as schools chancellor.

Like the first lawsuit, which a Brooklyn parent filed last week, the challenge focuses on the waiver that State Education Commissioner David Steiner granted Black to exempt her from the education certification normally required for school district leaders.

Steiner granted Black the waiver on the condition that Black appoint a seasoned educator as Chief Academic Officer.

In today’s suit, lawyers Norman Siegel and Herbert Teitelbaum argue that the state law that says the commissioner may grant a waiver to candidates with experience that is “substantially equivalent” to the certification cannot be interpreted to also consider the qualifications of a deputy.

Many of the parents named as plaintiffs of the suit are members of the “Deny Waiver Coalition,” the group that has spearheaded the opposition to Black’s appointment. (more…)