Letter: Didn’t Suit (New York Daily News)

An April 6 Editorial (“Friends to failure”) criticized the United Federation of Teachers and the NYCLU for bringing a lawsuit that required the Department of Education to comply with state law and secure the approval of the local community before it closes three elementary schools.

In a stunning inversion of logic, the editorial argued that the lawsuit, designed to promote democratic decision-making, actually impeded parental rights since parents were already clamoring for the closing of these schools.

The law imposes a fair process by which parents make their views known. The DOE ignored that process. The editorial did so as well, apparently preferring the clamorous protest of a select group of vocal parents and their well-connected supporters to the orderly process of democratic decision-making.

Donna Lieberman
Executive Director, New York Civil Liberties Union