A federal judge this week temporarily reinstated a Manhattan education councilmember who was removed by the city for making offensive comments about a student.
According to the court’s order, there is “a clear and substantial likelihood” that such removals are unconstitutional — a decision that likely limits the power the New York Schools chancellor has in controlling board membership on community education councils, which advise the chancellor on a wide range of issues, hold hearings on school policy issues and approve school zoning lines.
Tuesday night’s order comes after the board member, Maud Maron, angered Chancellor David Banks and others for pressing the city to bar transgender girls from playing sports with teams that match their gender identity.
The debate around transgender students has raged in places including Long Island and more conservative areas, but Maron made liberal Manhattan a central theater over the fight.
Banks called Maron’s motion on the sports policy — which was approved by the Community Education Council District 2 — “despicable,” but removed Maron for separate “derogatory and offensive” comments she made to the New York Post about the anonymous author of a school newspaper op-ed that criticized Israel. She’s since said she didn’t know the author — whom she called a “coward” — was a student, but defended her comments.
“A prohibition on ‘derogatory’ or ‘offensive’ speech disfavors ideas that offend and therefore discriminates based on viewpoint, in violation of the First Amendment,” Judge Diane Gujarati wrote.
The Department of Education said in a statement that it was disappointed that the ruling limited its ability to protect students from what it called “harmful conduct by parent leaders.”
“Even prior to the court’s ruling, we began reviewing the applicable chancellor’s regulation and are preparing to propose revisions and initiate our public engagement process,” said department spokesperson Nathaniel Styer.
Maron said she was “thrilled” about the decision and plans to return to the school board, which serves much of the Upper East Side and Lower Manhattan.
“This is a free speech win,” Maron said in a phone interview. “It seems like a lot of Americans have forgotten or never knew how important free speech rights are and how important the First Amendment is to protecting our freedom.”
Maron said she has not decided whether she will seek re-election when her term ends next year.
Maron’s opponents argue that she and her allies control the school board because so few people vote in the elections, which take place in April and online.
Board member Gavin Healy said Maron’s views don’t reflect those of the average Manhattan resident.
“They are essentially arguing that they have unrestricted rights to say derogatory and hateful things about students,” he said. “I think that the [Department of Education], as a guardian of these students, as a protector of these students, really needed to be pushing back harder on that.”
Notably, the judge’s decision did not overrule the removal of another board member, Tajh Sutton, from Community Education Council District 14 in Brooklyn.
Education officials removed Sutton for restricting access to meetings and the board social media account.
Styer, the education department spokesperson, said the department had already started “reviewing the applicable chancellor’s regulation and are preparing to propose revisions and initiate our public engagement process.”
Some board members from District 2 read Maron’s reinstatement and the silence on Sutton as a win for board members’ rights to express themselves, even when the city disagrees.
“The opinion in that regard is a complete win for parents,” said Craig Slutzkin, president of Community Education Council District 2. “As elected parent leaders, we should be able to speak our minds without fear that the Department of Education will punish us for doing so.”