Both Sides Square Off at Hearing on Charter School Suit - NYTimes.com: The debate began an hour before Justice Paul G. Feinman of the State Supreme Court opened a hearing on Tuesday on the lawsuit by the United Federation of Teachers against the New York City Department of Education.On the sidewalk outside the courthouse in Lower Manhattan, speaking before a phalanx of journalists, each side in the case accused the other of fostering inequality in city schools. Parents held signs — handwritten ones in support of charter schools and printed ones for their opponents.
The union’s lawsuit challenges the city’s attempt to close 22 schools for poor performance and to give 18 charter schools space inside buildings occupied by traditional public schools. According to the city, these initiatives are about expanding educational opportunities. But the teachers’ union and its allies in the suit say they are symbols of all that is wrong with the system.
