The United Federation of Teachers (UFT), led by President Mike Mulgrew has filed a lawsuit to stop the Bloomberg administration from siting schools for the 2014 school year, many of which would be co-located with other schools in the same building. Democrat Bill de Blasio, who won the Democratic primary for NYC mayor, supports the lawsuit, as does Bill Thompson, the UFT-endorsed candidate who finished second to de Blasio.
Charles Sahm from the Manhattan Institute penned an op-ed in the New York Post that critiqued the lawsuit and blasted the candidates for supporting the UFT on this issue. Sahm argued that siting schools a year in advace was normal, school co-location has existed for over a century in NYC, co-location did not lead to overcrowding, and students at small schools were more proficient than their peers at larger schools:
Bottom line: De Blasio, Thompson and Mulgrew's opposition to long-term planning and the successful charters and small schools created in the Bloomberg era is a grim sign for the future of the city's schools.
