Success Academy, New York City’s largest charter school network, is pushing back against the New York State Education Department (NYSED) over what it calls a violation of its First Amendment rights.The charter network filed a federal lawsuit against New York State Education Commissioner Betty A.Rosa, challenging the state’s refusal to authorize the College Board to release Advanced Placement (AP) exam results for New York public schools to U.S.
News & World Report for its annual high school rankings."There's no question that it's a First Amendment violation because, essentially… a publication right is being prevented from reporting real news," Eric Grannis told Fox News Digital.Grannis is an attorney representing the lawsuit and the husband of Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz.BUSINESS BOOMS FOR FIRM THAT RECRUITS STUDENTS AS ENROLLMENT IN SCHOOL DISTRICTS TANK NATIONWIDEThe CEO of New York City-based charter school network Success Academy argued that the system was failing students shortly after New York released its report card for grades 3-8.
U.S.News & World Report compiles its nationally recognized high school rankings using academic criteria, including student participation and performance on AP exams."Now, it both determines the ranking, and the information is also provided by U.S.
News & World Report," Grannis added."So, you can see how many students participated in AP exams, how many, and how well the students did, and how many exams they took.
And this has not been a problem for decades.""But just this year, Betty Rosa, the commissioner of the New York State Education Department, decided that they would not allow U.S.News & World Report to report on any of these AP grades," he said.The lawsuit alleges that NYSED’s policy violates the First Amendment by preventing Success Academy from communicating truthful, independently verified information about its students’ academic performance.
The network said that U.S.News relies dire...