Opinion

Denying parents standing in anti-charter case

Recently, we commended the mayor for his wisdom in questioning a lawsuit that challenges the city’s plans to have 30 charter schools share space with traditional schools. The test now is whether he and his schools chancellor will speak up so charter parents get their day in court.

Last Tuesday, these moms and dads converged on City Hall to protest the suit. They are also seeking standing to intervene in the case, because they know the aim of the suit is to kill off their kids’ charters. It tells you all you need to know here that, in response, the United Federation of Teachers has filed a brief asking that the parents not be heard.

Never mind that it’s the children of these parents who will suffer if the UFT and its high-powered fellow plaintiffs — including City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Public Advocate Letitia James — prevail. This is business as usual for the UFT, which regards New York City schools as a jobs program rather than institutions of learning.

The union’s attempt to silence parents also goes against everything de Blasio and his new chancellor, Carmen Fariña, are claiming about how parents will be involved in key school decisions under this administration.

“I’ve talked so consistently about focusing on the role of parents validly in the decision-making process,” de Blasio has said. His campaign noted that the then-mayoral hopeful “knows we must do a better job of involving and listening to parents.”

Fariña, too, has vowed to run “a system where parents are treated as real partners.” Just last Thursday, she promised that “when I come to speak to parents in June, you will say we’ve made a difference.”

In their anti-charter suit, the UFT and its allies say the city’s “co-location” process deprived “the most significant stakeholders, the parents of the affected students [emphasis added], the opportunity to . . . participate,” as required by law. Yet at the same time, they are asking the court to deny the most significant stakeholders in their suit — the parents of the charter kids — the opportunity to have their voices heard.

So how about it, Chancellor Fariña: Will you speak up for these parents, or let your silence speak for the teachers union?