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AugusL 6, 2014
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Manny 8lvera
Mrlvera[WeAre8ALL?.com or (323) 892-2080
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/'F <#$H? /< - 1oday, SLudenLs MaLLer, Lhe organlzaLlonal sponsor of Lhe successful educaLlon equallLy
lawsulL, !"#$%#% '( )%*+,-#.+%, announced LhaL lL would supporL Lhe plalnLlffs ln /%'+01 '( 2"3 4-#56 "7 %*6 a
lawsulL flled ln SLaLen lsland Supreme CourL on !uly 3rd( 1hls ls Lhe second lawsulL supporLed by SLudenLs
MaLLer and Lhe flrsL slnce Lhe vlcLory ln !"#$%#% on !une 10Lh.
llled agalnsL Lhe SLaLe of new ?ork, Lhe new ?ork 8oard of 8egenLs, Lhe new ?ork SLaLe LducaLlon
ueparLmenL, Lhe ClLy of new ?ork and Lhe new ?ork ClLy ueparLmenL of LducaLlon, /%'+01 '( 2"3 4-#5
seeks Lo declare unconsLlLuLlonal cerLaln sLaLuLes ln new ?ork's LducaLlonal Law LhaL deny new ?ork
sLudenLs Lhe fundamenLal rlghL Lo a sound educaLlon requlred by ArLlcle xl, 1 of Lhe new ?ork
ConsLlLuLlon. Slmllar Lo !"#$%#%, /%'+01 asks Lhe courL Lo sLrlke down cerLaln new ?ork sLaLuLes LhaL
effecLlvely prevenL Lhe removal of lneffecLlve Leachers from Lhe classroom and, ln economlc downLurns,
requlre layoffs of more compeLenL Leachers. 1he Challenged SLaLuLes prevenL school admlnlsLraLors from
prlorlLlzlng-or even meanlngfully conslderlng-Lhe lnLeresLs of Lhelr sLudenLs ln havlng effecLlve Leachers
when maklng dlsmlssal and layoff declslons. 1ogeLher and lndependenLly, Lhese laws-new ?ork LducaLlon
Law SecLlons 1102(3), 2309, 2373, 2390([), 3012, 3014, 3020-a, and 3013(2)-have a subsLanLlally negaLlve
lmpacL on sLudenLs' educaLlon by keeplng lneffecLlve Leachers ln Lhe classroom and dlsmlsslng effecLlve
Leachers LhaL dellver a sound educaLlon.
1he legal Leam spearheadlng /%'+01 '( 2"3 4-#5 wlll be led by Clbson, uunn & CruLcher aLLorneys
1heodore !. 8ouLrous, lead counsel for Lhe plalnLlffs ln !"#$%#%, and 8andy MasLro, one of Lhe leadlng Lrlal
aLLorneys ln Lhe counLry and former uepuLy Mayor of new ?ork ClLy. 1hey wlll be [olned by oLher members
of Lhe !"#$%#% legal Leam, lncludlng Marcellus A. Mc8ae, who served as lead co-counsel for Lhe plalnLlffs ln
!"#$%#%. Mr. 8ouLrous was also one of Lhe prlnclpal aLLorneys represenLlng Lhe plalnLlffs ln Lhe successful
federal consLlLuLlonal challenge Lo Callfornla's roposlLlon 8, whlch banned same-sex marrlage.
As ln !"#$%#%, we plan Lo show LhaL new ?ork's currenL educaLlon sysLem does noL serve Lhe needs of klds
and ln facL prevenLs Lhem from accesslng a sound educaLlon," sald Mr. 8ouLrous. 8esearch shows wlLhouL
a doubL LhaL Leacher quallLy ls Lhe number one ln-school deLermlnanL of educaLlonal effecLlveness. 1he
sysLem creaLed by new ?ork's laws resLrlcLs access Lo quallLy Leachers and deLracLs from Lhe overrldlng
purpose of new ?ork's educaLlon sysLem: Lo serve Lhe besL lnLeresL of sLudenLs."
1hls ls Lhe clvll rlghLs lssue LhaL wlll deflne our chlldren's fuLures, as we flghL Lo proLecL and guaranLee Lhe
rlghL of sLudenLs Lo a sound educaLlon," sald Mr. MasLro. We are proud Lo [oln LhaL flghL here ln new ?ork,
represenLlng Lhese concerned sLudenLs and parenLs. 1he Llme ls now Lo vlndlcaLe Lhelr rlghLs and make
sLudenLs our Lop prlorlLy."
We are Lhrllled Lo see Lhe conversaLlon LhaL sLarLed ln a Callfornla courLroom Lhrough !"#$%#% plcklng-up
sLeam ln new ?ork," added Mr. Mc8ae. We look forward Lo presenLlng overwhelmlng evldence ln Lhe
courLroom-an envlronmenL removed from rheLorlc and hyperbole-Lo show Lhe slgnlflcanL and long-Lerm
harm Lhese laws have on our sLudenLs."
1he lalnLlffs ln Lhe /%'+01 case are eleven publlc school chlldren from new ?ork ClLy. As sLudenLs ln new
?ork publlc schools, each lalnLlff has been harmed, or ls aL subsLanLlal rlsk of belng harmed, as a resulL of
Lhe Challenged SLaLuLes. 1he case was flled wlLh Lhe supporL of Lhe new ?ork ClLy arenLs unlon, a parenL-
led organlzaLlon dedlcaLed Lo ensurlng every chlld recelves equal access Lo a hlgh-quallLy publlc educaLlon.
1he !"#$%#% declslon ln Callfornla was a ground-breaklng vlcLory afflrmlng LhaL Lhe needs of sLudenLs
should be flrsL and foremosL ln our educaLlon sysLem," sald Mona uavlds, resldenL of Lhe new ?ork ClLy
arenLs unlon. We are dellghLed LhaL SLudenLs MaLLer and Lhelr legal Leam have accepLed our lnvlLaLlon
Lo [oln Lhls case. 1helr slgnlflcanL experlence ln breaklng down Lhe barrlers Lo change ln Callfornla wlll serve
our sLudenLs and our sLaLe well."
Slnce /%'+01 was flled ln early !uly, a slmllar complalnL supporLed by arLnershlp for LducaLlonal !usLlce was
flled ln Albany CounLy Supreme CourL. uavld 8oles, who ls servlng as Chalr of arLnershlp for LducaLlonal
!usLlce, prevlously [olned wlLh Mr. 8ouLrous and Clbson uunn Lo reLurn marrlage equallLy Lo Callfornla ln
Lhe roposlLlon 8 case.
We look forward Lo worklng wlLh uavld and all of Lhe oLher aLLorneys, organlzaLlons, and governmenL
offlclals commlLLed Lo ensurlng LhaL all sLudenLs have access Lo Lhe besL educaLlon posslble," added Mr.
8ouLrous.
8ecenL sLudles have conflrmed LhaL Lhe key deLermlnanL of educaLlonal effecLlveness ls Leacher quallLy.
SLudenLs LaughL by effecLlve Leachers are more llkely Lo aLLend college, aLLend hlgher-ranked colleges, earn
hlgher salarles, reslde ln hlgher socloeconomlc sLaLus nelghborhoods, and save for reLlremenL. SLudenLs
LaughL by grossly lneffecLlve Leachers suffer llfelong problems and fall Lo recover from Lhls dlsadvanLage.
l am a chlld of our publlc educaLlon and know flrsL-hand Lhe lmporLance of a good educaLlon and greaL
Leachers on a sLudenL's llfe Lra[ecLory," sald uavld l. Welch, founder of SLudenLs MaLLer. "l belleve greaL
Leachers should be proLecLed, buL l also belleve LhaL our publlc educaLlon sysLems have falled Lo puL Lhe
needs and success of our sLudenLs above all else by belng bllnd Lo Lhe quallLy of our Leachers. We have a
responslblllLy Lo ensure LhaL sLaLe law-wheLher ln new ?ork or Callfornla-guaranLees LhaL Lhe needs of
sLudenLs comes flrsL and LhaL every sLudenL has access Lo an effecLlve Leacher."
1he hlsLorlc declslon ln !"#$%#% sLruck down flve harmful provlslons of Lhe Callfornla LducaLlon Code as
unconsLlLuLlonal. Accordlng Lo Lhe CourL, Lhe laws ln quesLlon-laws LhaL govern Leacher Lenure, dlsmlssal,
and layoffs-lmpose subsLanLlal harm on Callfornla's sLudenLs by forclng admlnlsLraLors Lo push passlonaLe,
lnsplrlng Leachers ouL of Lhe school sysLem and keep grossly lneffecLlve Leachers ln fronL of sLudenLs year
afLer year.
uurlng Lrlal, lalnLlffs presenLed overwhelmlng evldence LhaL Callfornla's sLaLuLes deallng wlLh Leacher
dlsmlssal and permanenL employmenL lmpose a real harm on sLudenLs and Lhelr fundamenLal rlghL Lo
equallLy ln educaLlon. lmporLanLly, Lhe !"#$%#% Lrlal showed LhaL Lhese laws harm boLh sLudenLs and
Leachers, and LhaL Lhey serve no necessary purpose.

$362 0@3 )I34232 .8IGB6:40 :4 !"#$%& #( .+/ 0,12(

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