The New York state education department has filed a lawsuit to block a controversial new rule allowing certain charter schools to certify their own teachers, claiming that the regulations will “erode the quality of teaching” across the state.
The lawsuit, which was filed Thursday, seeks to overturn regulations approved by the State University of New York in October allowing charter schools it oversees to design their own teacher-certification programs. The department’s lawsuit claims that SUNY’s Charter Schools Committee overstepped its authority in passing the regulations — echoing a lawsuit filed by the city and state teachers unions last year.
In the department’s lawsuit, the state’s top education officials argue that the rules will allow “inexperienced and unqualified individuals” to teach in some of the 185 charter schools overseen by SUNY, which would “negatively impact” student learning.
“The consequences of the regulations will be profound and far-reaching as they will impede equity in access by all such students to quality teachers,” says the lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of the state Board of Regents, Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa, the state education department, and state education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia.
The regulations are meant to give charter schools more leeway in hiring teachers, who SUNY and some charter-school networks say are in short supply partly because of the state’s strict certification rules. Some charter networks also argue that their their hands-on training programs are more useful to new teachers than the type of training required under state law.
The regulations allow SUNY-authorized charter schools to certify teachers who complete the equivalent of a month of classroom instruction and practice teaching for 40 hours — compared to at least 100 hours under the state’s certification route, according to the lawsuit. And unlike teachers on a traditional certification route, they are not required to earn a master’s degree or take all of the state’s certification exams.
SUNY’s Charter Schools Committee says it was given the authority to create the regulations by a 2016 state law allowing the committee to regulate the “governance, structure and operations of charter schools.” However, opponents of the regulations — including state policymakers and state teachers unions, which praised the department’s lawsuit — say they go beyond the authority granted by the law.
When the unions filed their lawsuit in October, the chairman of the SUNY Charter Schools Committee disputed that argument.
“I think it’s very clear that the legislature gave the SUNY Charter Schools Committee the authority to make these sorts of changes,” said the chairman, Joseph Belluck, at the time.
The plaintiffs named in the lawsuit include SUNY and its Chancellor Kristina Johnson; SUNY’s Board of Trustees and its chairman, Carl McCall; the board’s Charter Schools Committee and Belluck. A SUNY spokesperson said Friday that the university system stands behind the regulations.
“SUNY believes it is within its legal right to implement these regulations,” spokeswoman Holly Liapis said in a statement. “We are aware of the filing and are currently reviewing it.”
Elia and Rosa have previously attacked the regulations as a way to allow unqualified educators into the classroom. Rosa called them “insulting” and Elia said, “I could go into a fast food restaurant and get more training than that.”
On Friday, the state education department sent a more measured statement.
“Yesterday, the State Education Department filed papers to declare unlawful and annul regulations adopted by the SUNY Charter Schools Committee regarding the employment of uncertified teachers in SUNY-authorized charter schools,” read a statement from Emily DeSantis, a department spokeswoman.
Late Friday, the city’s teachers union sent a statement saying the NAACP sought to join the union’s lawsuit opposing the teacher certification regulations.