Public Advocate and Class Size Matters legally challenge DOE on authority and transparency of School Leadership Teams
Yesterday, Public Advocate Letitia James and Class Size Matters filed papers in court, requesting to intervene in a lawsuit in which the Department of Education is arguing that School Leadership Teams are not subject to Open Meetings Law because they have only advisory powers.
In April of 2014, Michael P. Thomas, a retired teacher, tried to attend a School Leadership Team at a middle school on Staten Island, and was prevented from doing so. In an earlier case, teacher Francesco Portelos, was also prevented from attending his school’s SLT meeting. In that case, a Judge wrongly found on the side of the DOE that SLTs are not public bodies because they are only advisory. Yet the DOE's position is wrong for at least three reasons. First of all, School Leadership Teams, made up of half parents and half school staff, have more than advisory powers, and they make critical decisions for each school, as clearly delineated in Chancellor’s regulations and in New York State law. In 2008, when then-Chancellor Klein rewrote the regulation on SLTs and tried to strip them of their powers, Class Size Matters helped Marie Pollicino, then a member of the Community Education Council in District 26, file a complaint with the State Education Commissioner. (Here's a Daily News article and our blog about this complaint.) Marie's complaint was later joined by Mel Meer, an active Queens parent and Community Board member, and the UFT.
In his decision, Education Commissioner Mills ordered the Chancellor to rewrite the regulation, because it “strips the SLT of this basic, statutorily mandated authority” to develop the school’s Comprehensive Education Plan, which contains the fundamental goals of each school and the roadmap for achieving them. Principals must align the school-based budget with the CEP, and if they do not, SLT members have the right to issue a formal complaint. (Here's an article about this decision from our blog, and Chalkbeat, then called GothamSchools.) The SLT’s ultimate authority over the CEP was subsequently reinserted not only in Chancellor’s regulations but also in the 2010 state law pertaining to New York City school governance.
Secondly, the DOE errs in its definition of a “public body.” There are many public bodies that are subject to Open Meetings law, such as Community Boards, Commissions and other official bodies that may have only advisory powers but have a mandated role in governance. Public bodies perform a governmental function for the state, an agency or department, must follow certain set procedures and require a quorum to operate. This is also the case with SLTs, which according to state law, must meet monthly, have a quorum to make decisions, and must “provide notice of monthly meetings that is consistent with the open meetings law.” Even a DOE powerpoint during Walcott's chancellorship NYC Public School Parents: Public Advocate and Class Size Matters legally challenge DOE on authority and transparency of School Leadership Teams: