A Manhattan judge has dismissed a long-pending case that attacked New York teacher tenure and layoff procedures. New York State Supreme Court Justice Dakota D. Ramseur on June 5 granted a motion for summary judgment to dismiss the case, writing that the record showed that “the student plaintiffs received a sound basic education, and plaintiff’s opposition failed to rebut this showing.” 

Known as the Davids-Wright case, the suit was originally filed in 2014 by Mona Davids of the New York City Parents Union and by a group founded by former TV anchor and former Meta Vice President Campbell Brown. A number of individual parents and students were part of the original lawsuit, though many withdrew over the course of the litigation. 

Defendants in the case included the New York State Board of Regents, the state and city Departments of Education, and the United Federation of Teachers, the city teachers’ union. 

Citing the later educational success of some of the individual students who were plaintiffs in the case, Judge Ramseur’s decision also noted that the plaintiffs did not “meet their burden by showing a genuine disputed issue of fact that they were not afforded an opportunity for a meaningful high school education, an education which prepares them to function productively as civic participants and compete for jobs that enable them to support themselves.” 

Read the judge’s decision »