UFT, NAACP Sue Over School Closings

MYFOXNY.COM - The fight over the closing of 19 New York City public schools has landed in court. The NAACP and the union that represents teachers have sued the city over the plan.

The Department of Education is set the close the city because it says the schools have been underperforming.

The United Federation of Teachers and the NAACP say in the lawsuit that the city's plan would be unfair to minorities and violates state law.

The process for closing the struggling schools begins with a plan to stop accepting freshman students. Students already enrolled can continue and graduate if they meet requirements.

The Panel for Education Policy voted last week to close the schools, which it said are failing. Mayor Michael Bloomberg controls the panel. He and School Chancellor Joel Klein have said that the schools aren't doing their job.

Last week, hundreds of students, parents, and teachers protested the plan at the panel's open meeting in Brooklyn.

Since the city changed the law to give the mayor direct control over schools, 91 schools have closed and replaced with smaller institutes and charters.

--With the AP