The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) has filed a lawsuit in the New York State Supreme Court in its effort to obtain copies of emails sent by officials in the Department of Education (DOE), which include information on closed schools and charter schools. The lawsuit was filed on April 3.
The UFT requested the information in 2010, but according to the their website, the DOE has sent them 19 responses that say it would reply to request for the emails under the Freedom of information Act. The department has not sent the requested information yet.
UFT President Michael Mulgrew said in a press release, “Representatives of many news media eagerly joined the lawsuit around the release of teacher data reports. Their attorney cited the FOI law’s ability ‘to enable citizens to hold the institutions of government accountable.’ I am inviting those same media to join the UFT this time in seeking information that the Department of Education seems determined to keep secret.”