Nineteen parents of students from a Harlem charter school filed a federal lawsuit against the city Monday, claiming Mayor de Blasio hurt their children by picking on Success Academy Charter Schools CEO Eva Moskowitz.
The suit against the city Department of Education blasts de Blasio’s controversial decision to bar Success Academy Harlem Central Middle School from free classroom space in a public school building.
De Blasio has “repeatedly and publicly expressed targeted animosity” toward Moskowitz, the suit says, pointing out that the only three charter schools to lose their buildings after a Department of Education review all “happened to be operated by Success Academy.” Five Success charters were allowed to go ahead.
The suit seeks to compel the city to follow through on a Bloomberg administration vow to let the 194-student charter expand inside the Public School 149 building.
The parents claim their children’s constitutional rights to due process and a sound public education were violated when the city reversed the co-location plan.
The de Blasio administration “is already taking steps to resolve concerns,” said schools spokesman Devon Puglia.
Success Academy is also pursuing legal action at the state level.
