Paul, Weiss Obtains Victory for Charter Schools in New York State Supreme Court

Paul, Weiss obtained a significant victory on behalf of New York City charter schools in New York State Supreme Court when Justice Barbara Jaffe dismissed a complaint filed against the Board of Education (BOE) by a group of parents of public school students. Plaintiffs sought to require the BOE to collect approximately $100 million in rent from charter schools that are currently permitted to use BOE facilities for free, and they also challenged certain funding practices as violative of the right to a sound basic education under the New York State constitution. A group of charter schools, including Paul, Weiss clients Harlem Success Academies 1 and 4, intervened as defendants. 

Judge Jaffe dismissed all of the plaintiffs' statutory claims, holding, as the intervenor-defendants had argued, that the plaintiffs had failed to exhaust their administrative remedies. Because those claims concerned "budgetary decisions made in permitting charter schools to co-locate," the court explained that the plaintiffs were first required to bring their challenge to the Commissioner of Education. Judge Jaffe also dismissed plaintiffs' constitutional claims, holding that the plaintiffs had failed to allege the kind of injury that could support such claims.

The Paul, Weiss team included litigation partners Theodore Wells and David Brown and associates Ralia Polechronis, David K. Kessler and Jacob Lillywhite.