A second lawsuit challenging New York state’s laws on teacher tenure, layoffs, and dismissals was filed last week.
The suit on behalf of seven students, spearheaded by the Partnership for Educational Justice and modeled on the Vergara v. California case, argues that those protections are depriving students of their constitutional right in New York to a “sound basic education” because they make it nearly impossible to fire an ineffective or incompetent teacher.
The lawsuit doesn’t contend, as the California plaintiffs did, that disadvantaged and minority students are disproportionately affected. The new case follows a separate suit by the New York City Parents Union.
