Young Advocates for Fair Educ. v. Cuomo

359 F. Supp. 3d 215
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. New York
DecidedJanuary 16, 2019
Docket18-CV-4167
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 359 F. Supp. 3d 215 (Young Advocates for Fair Educ. v. Cuomo) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Young Advocates for Fair Educ. v. Cuomo, 359 F. Supp. 3d 215 (E.D.N.Y. 2019).

Opinion

GLASSER, Senior United States District Judge:

*219New York's Education Law provides that children in private schools must receive an education that is "at least substantially equivalent" to the instruction given at public schools in the city or district where they reside. N.Y. Educ. L. § 3204(2)(i). On April 12, 2018, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law an amendment to the Education Law setting forth factors that must be considered when evaluating whether certain private schools provide a "substantially equivalent" education. See L. 2018, ch. 59, pt. SSS (the "Felder Amendment " or the "Amendment "); N.Y. Educ. L. § 3204(2)(ii)-(v). Although the Felder Amendment does not refer to religious schools on its face, Young Advocates for Fair Education ("YAFFED "), a non-profit group that advocates for improved secular education in the Hasidic Jewish community, argues that the Amendment was designed to reduce the level of secular education that must be taught in private Hasidic Jewish schools without changing the educational requirements applicable to other private schools, including other religious schools. (ECF No. 1 ("Compl.") ¶¶ 8-9, 12).

YAFFED brought this action on July 23, 2018, alleging that the Felder Amendment violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution and seeking declaratory and injunctive relief. YAFFED names Governor Cuomo, Betty Rosa, Chancellor of the Board of Regents of the State of New York, and MaryEllen Elia, Commissioner (the "Commissioner ") of the New York State Education Department ("NYSED "), in each case in their official capacities, as Defendants. On August 24, 2018, YAFFED moved for a preliminary injunction "restraining and enjoining Defendants ... from enforcing or promulgating guidelines in compliance with the [Felder Amendment] [and] ordering Defendants to maintain the statutory status quo ante as it existed prior to April 12, 2018." (ECF No. 17, at 1-2). On October 2, 2018, Defendants moved to dismiss pursuant to Federal Rules of Civil 12(b)(1) and (6) on standing, ripeness and Eleventh Amendment grounds. (ECF Nos. 32, 34).

The statute at issue in this case, and the events leading up to its enactment, have aroused strong feelings on both sides and raise substantial questions of constitutional law. However, Article III of the United States Constitution limits this Court's jurisdiction to "Cases" and "Controversies," which the Supreme Court has construed to require that "the plaintiff ... have suffered an 'injury in fact'-an invasion of a legally protected interest" which is "concrete and particularized," as well as "actual or imminent, not 'conjectural' or 'hypothetical.' " Lujan v. Defenders of Wildlife , 504 U.S. 555, 560, 112 S.Ct. 2130, 119 L.Ed.2d 351 (1992) (citations omitted). This standing requirement "tends to assure that the legal questions presented to the court will be resolved, not in the rarified atmosphere of a debating society, but in a concrete factual context conducive to a realistic appreciation of the consequences of judicial action."

*220Valley Forge Christian College v. Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Inc. , 454 U.S. 464, 472, 102 S.Ct. 752, 70 L.Ed.2d 700 (1982). The Court has no desire to evade the complex questions presented here, mindful that the judiciary's application of the standing doctrine has occasionally been criticized as a way of punting on difficult questions or avoiding a ruling on the merits. See, e.g., Mark V. Tushnet, The Sociology of Article III: A Response to Professor Brillmayer , 93 Harv. L. Rev. 1698, 1715 n. 72 (1980) ; Mark V. Tushnet, The New Law of Standing: A Plea for Abandonment , 62 Cornell L. Rev. 663, 663-664 (1977). However, on the present record, YAFFED has failed to demonstrate that it has suffered an injury in fact sufficient to confer standing, or that such an injury is "certainly impending." Knife Rights, Inc. v. Vance , 802 F.3d 377, 389 (2d Cir. 2015) (quoting Clapper v. Amnesty Intern. USA , 568 U.S. 398, 409, 133 S.Ct. 1138, 185 L.Ed.2d 264 (2013) ). Therefore, the Court has no choice but to grant Defendant's motion to dismiss pursuant to Rule 12(b)(1).

BACKGROUND

I. The Education Law Prior to April 12, 2018

The Education Law requires children aged 6 to 16 in New York State to attend "full time instruction" and sets forth minimum standards for the quality of instruction in public schools. N.Y. Educ. L. §§ 3204, 3205(1), (3). Public schools must teach particular subjects at various grade levels, including English language, reading, writing, mathematics, geography, United States history, science, music, visual arts, and physical education. See N.Y. Educ. L. § 3204(3)(a) ; 8 N.Y.C.R.R. §§ 100.2 - 100.5, 135.4. The State also requires instruction in specialized topics including mental health, alcohol and drug abuse, patriotism, citizenship, and human rights, among others. See N.Y. Educ. L. §§ 801, 801-a, 803, 804, 806, 808, 809, 810 ; 8 N.Y.C.R.R. §§ 100.2(c), 135.3.

In private schools, including parochial schools, students must receive instruction that is "at least substantially equivalent" to the instruction given at public schools in the city or district where they reside. Id.

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359 F. Supp. 3d 215, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/young-advocates-for-fair-educ-v-cuomo-nyed-2019.