A New York judge has blocked the state from withholding $250 million from New York City schools as punishment for missing a deadline on a teacher-evaluation plan.
In granting a preliminary injunction last week, state Supreme Court Justice Manuel Mendez said a lawsuit brought by a group of parents challenging the penalty has merit. Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration said it would appeal.
The lawsuit argues it would be unconstitutional to withhold funding from students who had nothing to do with an impasse between the city and the United Federation of Teachers over how to measure the performance of educators.
State law pushed by Gov. Cuomo to secure federal Race to the Top funding required all of New York’s nearly 700 school districts to have an approved evaluation system in place by Jan. 17.
