A state judge has struck a blow for common sense, repudiated an elected official aiming to rule by lawsuit and given hope to moms and dads looking for a decent education for their kids.
All in all, a good day’s work by state Supreme Court Justice Eileen Rakower.
Last Friday, Rakower dismissed a suit by Public Advocate Letitia James seeking to block the co-location of New York City charter schools in existing public schools.
Ruling from the bench, Rakower accused James and her co-litigants (including City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, several other council members and various anti-charter activists) of a “failure to exhaust administrative remedies” first.
In plain English, Judge Rakower’s point was that the James Gang rushed into court without bothering to wait for the proper process — a parallel complaint filed with State Education Commissioner John King — to be resolved.
Showing a modesty all too rare among modern judges, Rakower sided with a lawyer representing the city who noted that Commissioner King was the appropriate authority to hear the complaint because he “may invoke a certain kind of expertise that a judge may not have.”
We’re glad to see a court decline the temptation to set education policy from the bench. Meanwhile, the suit itself renews our skepticism about the office of public advocate, which has zero accountability.
All too often this means that far from serving the public interest, it serves the personal interests of ambitious public advocates.
Good to see a judge pushing back on this mischief.