It would be unconscionable for litigation that attempts to take educational opportunities away from thousands of New York children to proceed without the participation of the parents of those very children.
Case Details
Case Status
Ruling in Favor of Defending Ed
Location
New York
Date Filed
March 22, 2021
UPDATE: On October 24, 2025, Defending Education won IntegrateNYC v. City of New York, ending a four-year journey through New York’s state courts. The New York Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, ruled that judges should not make education policy. It found that the plaintiffs had no valid legal claim under the state constitution’s Education Article, its Equal Protection Clause, or the New York State Human Rights Law.
Read the full press release and the court’s final ruling here.
In March 2021, Defending Education (DE) joined, or “intervened” in, a case filed in the New York Supreme Court, the state’s trial-level court. The lawsuit claims New York City’s public schools have copied and worsened racial inequality by sorting children into different academic tracks as early as kindergarten, denying many of the city’s roughly one million students their right to a sound, basic education.
DE joined on the defendants’ side to share a view the court would not otherwise hear: that of families with children in city schools who would be affected by the changes the plaintiffs want. DE’s members believe their children should be judged on their own merit, not treated as members of a racial group or blamed for the wrongs of others. DE argues the best path to equality is to treat children equally, regardless of skin color, and to fix what is broken in city schools without breaking what works. Most importantly, DE argues that what the plaintiffs are asking for would violate the Equal Protection Clauses of both the New York and U.S. Constitutions.
Read the complaint below: