{"id":297,"date":"2021-04-28T16:30:51","date_gmt":"2021-04-28T16:30:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/?p=297"},"modified":"2023-02-21T21:59:16","modified_gmt":"2023-02-21T21:59:16","slug":"cornell-first-amendment-clinic-files-suit-seeking-documents-from-nyc-does-yeshiva-school-inquiry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/cornell-first-amendment-clinic-files-suit-seeking-documents-from-nyc-does-yeshiva-school-inquiry\/","title":{"rendered":"Cornell First Amendment Clinic Files Suit Seeking Documents From NYC DOE\u2019s Yeshiva School Inquiry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Cornell Law School\u2019s First Amendment Clinic filed a lawsuit in state court on April 27, 2021, on behalf of accountability news site The City,<\/em> and its city hall reporter, Yoav Gonen, seeking records from the New York City Department of Education\u2019s  (DOE) controversial Yeshiva school inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The records detail the school-specific findings of a five year investigation by the DOE into whether twenty-eight schools in Brooklyn are adhering to the state\u2019s substantial equivalence requirements. Under the substantial equivalence law, nonpublic schools must provide an education at least as good as that provided to public school students in the same district.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DOE has published a summary report of its findings but refuses to allow the public to review the school-specific assessments for 26 schools that do not meet the substantial equivalence threshold. The DOE simultaneously claims that the investigation is ongoing and that determined that curricula require improvement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City published a lengthy article<\/a> on the suit, quoting its editor-in-chief, Jere Hester.  \u201cThe public has a right to know whether students are getting the education they deserve under the law. The city Department of Education\u2019s excuse that the investigation is ongoing after nearly six years fails the smell test.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The underlying investigation has been a source of significant controversy and media attention and has generated a separate investigation by the Department of Investigation (DOI) into whether the Mayor\u2019s office engaged in \u201cpolitical horse-trading\u201d that interfered with the progress of the inquiry. The DOI found that horse-trading had occurred, but did not interfere with the conclusion of the investigation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYoav and The City<\/em> are doing a fantastic set of accountability journalism to keep New Yorkers informed\u201d says Ava Lubell, Local Journalism Attorney and part of the clinic\u2019s Local Journalism Project. \u201cIf you\u2019re not reading their coverage, you should be! The DOE is engaged in a set of linguistic gymnastics here,\u201d added Lubell. \u201cMerely terming something an investigation does make it one. The investigation is over and it\u2019s time that the public learned of its findings. The City<\/em> can use these records to tell so many different stories about the DOE, local politics, and more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The City<\/em> is represented by Lubell and Heather Murray, managing attorney of the Clinic\u2019s Local Journalism Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The First Amendment Clinic is engaged in a variety of cases and projects advancing the interests of free speech and freedom of the press. The Local Journalism Project addresses the increasing void in legal representation facing newsgatherers and media outlets that would otherwise be precluded from engaging in expensive litigation to defend their rights and ability to do their jobs. The Clinic\u2019s work extends across disciplines, impacting journalists, researchers, human rights advocates, political advocates, and other individuals targeted based on their expression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cThe public has a right to know whether students are getting the education they deserve under the law. The city Department of Education\u2019s excuse that the investigation is ongoing after nearly six years fails the smell test.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":319,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[9,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":320,"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297\/revisions\/320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/319"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cornell1a.law.cornell.edu\/blog\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}