Another example of unions first, kids someplace down the line.

‘Class’ warfare

Unions sue to block school closures

A teachers-union lawsuit could block Mayor Bloomberg’s attempts to boot teachers and managers from two dozen struggling schools, officials charged yesterday.

The UFT and the Council of Supervisors and Administrators filed the suit in Manhattan Supreme Court, calling the administration’s plan to shutter the schools and fire poor-performing staffers a “sham” that is an end-run around contract rules.

Department of Education officials want to close the 24 schools at the end of June and reopen them just four days later — an unprecedented move that could allow officials to replace up to half the staff at each facility.

“Sadly, today’s lawsuit could have damaging consequences for that process, jeopardizing the creation of exciting new schools with new programs, teachers and leadership structures,” said Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott.

The closures were approved 10 days ago by the mayor-controlled Panel for Educational Policy.

The plan is the best way to ensure that the most qualified teachers are hired to work at each school, officials said.

“Our strategy of replacing failing schools has led to major gains in achievement and graduation rates, and we pledge to extend that progress no matter what special-interest groups try to obstruct it,” Walcott added.

But the principals and teachers unions said those purported closures — with the same students continuing in the same school buildings — are meant only to trigger staff overhauls, which are supposed to be reserved for new, rather than existing, schools.

They asked a judge to force the DOE into fast-paced arbitration to determine whether contracts with the city would be violated by the overhauls.

“Let’s be real about this: This was an attempt to go around collective bargaining,” Council of School Supervisors and Administrators President Ernie Logan said outside the downtown court building.

“The chancellor is attempting to move out educators without going through the [normal] process.”

DOE officials shot back that the lawsuit was just the latest in a long line of union obstructions that put the interests of adults ahead of students’.

It’s the third straight year that the United Federation of Teachers has legally challenged school closures. One lawsuit has been successful.

Teachers and administrators who aren’t hired back could look for work at other schools or else join a pool of permanent substitutes.

The court action doesn’t prohibit the DOE from forging ahead with its plan. It only seeks to block any major changes from being finalized before an arbitrator weighs in.