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| Mona Davids and Her Children Mymoena and Eric |
Mona Davids doesn't know what to believe. So she goes where the wind - oops, the money - blows. See the articles below. First, Ms. Davids uses her children to get good teachers out of their classrooms, and Attorney Arthur Schwartz will be opposing her foolish and frivolous lawsuit against teacher tenure. Then, further below, you will see how the UFT gave Mona $10,000 and Attorney Arthur Schwartz was her attorney.
Huh? Where are these people's values and integrity, I might ask?
Drop the lawsuit Mona.
Betsy Combier
Parents, education advocates plan to defend teacher tenure against lawsuit filed by parents' reform group
Attorney Arthur Schwartz said he expects to file a motion in Staten Island Supreme Court within two weeks claiming his clients should be named as co-defendants of the city and state’s Education Departments, which were sued two weeks ago by the New York City Parents Union for failing to provide quality education to all kids.
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Saturday, July 12, 2014, 11:57 PM
sbrown@nydailynews.com
About 50 parents and education advocates plan to defend teacher tenure in court alongside the city and state, arguing that job protections ensure quality classrooms.
Labor attorney Arthur Schwartz (pictured at left) said he expects to file a motion in Supreme Court within two weeks claiming his clients should be named as co-defendants of the city and state’s Education Departments, which were sued two weeks ago by the Parents Union for failing to provide quality education to all kids.
“They believe that the only way to attract qualified graduates to the profession is if they are afforded job security,” Schwartz said of his clients.
The Parents Union suit, which seeks class action status, names 11 city students whose constitutional rights were allegedly violated by bad teachers who couldn't be fired.
But Schwartz said that teachers with job protections were not the reason for poor student achievement.
“This lawsuit in fact diverts attention from lack of (education) funding and excessive class size,” he said. “There's no evidence that systems of job security harm students.”
The president of the Parents Union, Mona Davids, had no comment on the possibility of new defendants in her suit.
She was inspired by the so-called Vergara decision, in which a Los Angeles Superior Court judge ruled that ineffective teachers are disproportionately represented in poor neighborhoods.
That ruling in , which is under appeal, also led journalist-turned-advocate Campbell Brown to announce she will soon file a similar suit in .
Gloda/Getty Images/iStockphotoThe Parents Union suit, which seeks class action status, names 11 city students whose constitutional rights were allegedly violated by bad teachers who couldn't be fired.
A spokesman for her advocacy group, Partnership for Educational Justice, did not respond to a request for comment.
Schwartz said he expects to intervene in Brown’s lawsuit, as
well.
Observers say that both suits in the Empire State face daunting legal hurdles compared to .
Reform efforts are already underway, including a new teacher evaluation system and new bonuses intended to lure quality educators to impoverished neighborhoods in the city through bonuses.
Lastly, in teachers are granted tenure in just 18 months, while in New York educators face a three-year probationary period.
New parent group all $nug
with UFT
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| Tom DiNapoli |
A nonprofit touting itself as an “independent” parent advocacy group has quickly cozied up to the United Federation of Teachers — and to the union’s deep pockets, The Post has learned.
The New York City Parents Union, which supported the UFT’s legal battle against charter schools being housed in public buildings and which recently ripped the mayor’s handling of the schools system, has already received $10,000 from the teachers union since launching in April.
The relationship between the two groups will take center stage tonight when the Parents Union hosts its first annual awards benefit — honoring none other than UFT President Michael Mulgrew at the UFT’s downtown headquarters.
Also honored for community leadership will be the state’s NAACP chief, Hazel Dukes — who has railed repeatedly against charter schools — and Arthur Z. Schwartz, a longtime labor lawyer who represented the transit union during its unlawful 2005 strike, which crippled the city.
His new group, Advocates for Justice, filed a lawsuit last summer on behalf of the Parents Union that echoed the UFT’s losing legal bid to keep struggling schools from being shuttered.
A host of other unions were also donors to the event including the AFL-CIO, Teamsters Local 237, SEIU 32B and the Transit Workers Union.
School-choice advocates accused the new parents group of being an arm of the UFT.
“It was always clear that the UFT was behind this organization, but now they aren’t even trying to pretend there is any separation,” said Joe Williams, executive director of Democrats for Education Reform.
Parents Union founder Mona Davids insisted her group is not a union tool, saying it “welcomes and appreciates alliances with other individuals and organizations who share our interest in obtaining the highest-quality public education for all children in New York City.’’
Additional reporting by Yoav Gonen
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