In court, UFT and NAACP ask for immediate halt to closure plans
UFT President Michael Mulgrew speaks at an NAACP rally Friday morning. The organizations are the primary plaintiffs on a lawsuit against the Department of Education.
Seeking to force an immediately halt to the city’s plans to close 22 schools and co-locate another 18 charter schools, the teachers union and the NAACP filed a temporary restraining order against the Department of Education on Thursday.
The court request would force the plans to end whether or not a judge rules in favor of the original lawsuit challenging the city’s plans. That lawsuit, filed by the United Federation of Teachers and the NAACP last month, argues that the closures and co-locations create an unequal allocation of resources.
City school officials immediately criticized the attempted restraining order, describing a colliding impact that they said would target thousands of high school students.
Last year, when another lawsuit by the teachers union and the NAACP forced the city to reverse its plans to close struggling schools, the city delayed matching students to high schools until the outcome of the suit was clear. This year, the city has already matched students to high schools. It’s not obvious what would happen to