NEW YORK, NY – Today, Students Matter, the
organizational sponsor of the
successful education equality
lawsuit, Vergara v. California, announced that
it would
support the plaintiffs in Davids v. New York, et al, a
lawsuit filed in
Staten Island Supreme Court on July 3rd. This
is the second lawsuit supported
by Students Matter and the first since
the victory in Vergara on June 10th.
Filed against the State of New York, the New York Board
of Regents, the New York State Education Department, the City of New
York and the New York
City Department of Education, Davids v. New
York seeks to declare unconstitutional certain statutes in New
York’s Educational Law that deny
New York students the fundamental
right to a sound education required by
Article XI, §1 of the New York Constitution. Similar
to Vergara, Davids asks
the court to
strike down certain New York statutes that effectively prevent the
removal of ineffective teachers from the classroom and, in economic
downturns, require layoffs of more competent teachers. The
Challenged Statutes prevent school administrators from prioritizing—or
even meaningfully considering—the interests of their students in having
effective teachers when making dismissal
and layoff decisions. Together
and independently, these laws—New York Education Law Sections 1102(3),
2509, 2573, 2590(j), 3012, 3014, 3020-a, and 3013(2)—have a
substantially negative impact on students’ education by keeping
ineffective teachers in the classroom and dismissing effective teachers
that
deliver a sound education.
The legal team spearheading Davids v. New
York will be led by Gibson,
Dunn & Crutcher attorneys
Theodore J. Boutrous, lead counsel for the
plaintiffs in Vergara,
and Randy Mastro, one of the leading trial attorneys
in the country and
former Deputy Mayor of New York City. They will be
joined by other
members of the Vergara legal team, including Marcellus
A. McRae, who served as lead co-counsel for the plaintiffs in Vergara.
Mr.
Boutrous was also one of the principal attorneys
representing the plaintiffs
in the successful federal
constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8, which banned
same-sex marriage.
“As in Vergara, we plan to show that
New York’s current education system
does not serve the needs of kids
and in fact prevents them from accessing a sound education,” said Mr.
Boutrous. “Research shows without a doubt that teacher quality is
the number one in-school determinant of educational effectiveness. The
system created by New York’s laws restricts access to
quality teachers
and detracts from the overriding purpose of New York’s
education
system: to serve the best interest of students.”
“This is the civil rights issue that will define our
children's futures, as we
fight to protect and guarantee the right of
students to a sound education,”
said Mr. Mastro. “We are proud to join
that fight here in New York, representing these concerned students and
parents. The time is now to vindicate their
rights and make students
our top priority."
“We are thrilled to see the conversation that
started in a California courtroom throughVergara picking-up
steam in New York,” added Mr. McRae. “We look forward to presenting
overwhelming evidence in the courtroom—an environment removed from
rhetoric and hyperbole—to show the significant and long-term
harm these
laws have on our students.”
The Plaintiffs in the Davids case are
eleven public school children from New
York City. As students in
New York public schools, each Plaintiff has been harmed, or is at
substantial risk of being harmed, as a result of the Challenged
Statutes. The case was filed with the support of the New York City
Parents
Union, a parent-led organization dedicated to ensuring every
child receives
equal access to a high-quality public education.
“The Vergara decision in California was
a ground-breaking victory affirming
that the needs of students should
be first and foremost in our education
system,” said Mona Davids,
President of the New York City Parents Union.
“We are delighted
that Students Matter and their legal team have accepted
our invitation
to join this case. Their significant experience in breaking down
the barriers to change in California will serve our students and our
state well.”
Since Davids was filed in early July, a
similar complaint supported by
Partnership for Educational Justice was
filed in Albany County Supreme
Court. David Boies, who is serving
as Chair of Partnership for Educational Justice, previously joined with
Mr. Boutrous and Gibson Dunn to return
marriage equality to California
in the Proposition 8 case.
“We look forward to working with David and all of the
other attorneys, organizations, and government officials committed to
ensuring that all
students have access to the best education possible,”
added Mr. Boutrous.
Recent studies have confirmed that the key determinant
of educational effectiveness is teacher quality. Students taught by
effective teachers are
more likely to attend college, attend
higher-ranked colleges, earn higher
salaries, reside in higher
socioeconomic status neighborhoods, and save for retirement.
Students taught by grossly ineffective teachers suffer lifelong
problems and fail to recover from this disadvantage.
“I am a child of our public education and know
first-hand the importance of
a good education and great teachers on a
student’s life trajectory,” said David F. Welch, founder of Students
Matter. "I believe great teachers should be protected, but I also
believe that our public education systems have failed to put the needs
and success of our students above all else by being blind to the
quality of our teachers. We have a responsibility to ensure that
state law—whether in New
York or California—guarantees that the needs
of students comes first and that every student has access to an
effective teacher."
The historic decision in Vergara struck
down five harmful provisions of the California Education Code as
unconstitutional. According to the Court, the
laws in
question—laws that govern teacher tenure, dismissal, and layoffs—impose
substantial harm on California’s students by forcing administrators
to push passionate, inspiring teachers out of the
school system and
keep grossly ineffective teachers in front of students
year after year.
During trial, Plaintiffs presented overwhelming evidence
that California’s
statutes dealing with teacher dismissal and permanent
employment impose
a real harm on students and their fundamental right
to equality in education. Importantly, the Vergara trial
showed that these laws harm both students and teachers, and that they
serve no necessary purpose.
Students
Matter is a national nonprofit organization dedicated to sponsoring
impact litigation to promote access to quality public education. Learn
more at studentsmatter.org.
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