Success Academy Files Lawsuit Against NYSED Over AP Exam Data Release

<p>Success Academy, New York City’s largest charter school network, has filed a federal lawsuit against the New York State Education Department (NYSED) and Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa. The lawsuit challenges the state's refusal to authorize the College Board to release Advanced Placement (AP) exam results for New York public schools to U.S. News & World Report for its annual high school rankings.</p><p>Attorney Eric Grannis, representing the lawsuit, stated, "There's no question that it's a First Amendment violation because, essentially… a publication right is being prevented from reporting real news." Grannis is also the husband of Success Academy CEO Eva Moskowitz.</p><p>U.S. News & World Report compiles its high school rankings using academic criteria, including student participation and performance on AP exams. Grannis noted that the information provided by U.S. News includes data on how many students participated in AP exams and their performance, which has not been an issue for decades.</p><p>Grannis added, "But just this year, Betty Rosa, the commissioner of the New York State Education Department, decided that they would not allow U.S. News & World Report to report on any of these AP grades." The lawsuit claims that NYSED’s policy violates the First Amendment by preventing Success Academy from sharing truthful, independently verified information about its students’ academic performance.</p><p>Due to NYSED's decision not to authorize the College Board to release 2026 AP scores, U.S. News calculated the advanced course metrics using only International Baccalaureate (IB) data. As Success Academy offers AP courses instead of IB programs, the network received no credit for 40% of the ranking's weighted criteria, resulting in a drop in its statewide ranking from 11th to 196th.</p><p>Grannis stated, "All of this critical information about this incredible success of its students has been suppressed by the New York State Education Department. And so we have brought a First Amendment lawsuit to require the commissioner to allow this data to be made public."</p><p>Success Academy has accused NYSED of obscuring data to inflate the rankings of traditional public schools at the expense of high-performing charter schools. The network highlighted that while less than 25% of high school graduates nationally pass an AP exam, 95% of Success Academy’s 2026 graduating class passed three or more AP exams, with 60% passing seven or more.</p><p>Founded in 2006, Success Academy serves over 22,000 predominantly low-income, Black, and Hispanic students across New York City. The network often compares its academic performance to that of some of the state's wealthiest suburban districts, such as Scarsdale Union Free School District, where fewer than 10% of students are Black or Hispanic and none are categorized as economically disadvantaged.</p><p>According to state test scores released for grades 3-8 in 2025, Success Academy ranked No. 1 in New York State for math proficiency with a 96% pass rate and placed second statewide in English Language Arts (ELA) with a 92% pass rate, trailing Scarsdale by just one percentage point.</p><p>NYSED has defended its position by citing student data privacy laws, asserting that student information should not be commercialized for ranking products. However, Grannis argued that applying commercial restrictions to educational reporting sets a dangerous precedent, noting that major news outlets like The New York Times and The Washington Post are also commercial entities but still enjoy First Amendment protections.</p><p>Grannis stated, "If the commissioner had her way... it would strike at the heart of the First Amendment. It would mean that in theory, she could prohibit anybody from reporting on, say, the average reading scores of New York City school students because that would be, in her view, profiting—having a newspaper article in a for-profit magazine about student data."</p><p>He also alleged that NYSED's decisions are influenced by traditional public school interests and teachers unions, claiming, "The Department of Education is particularly highly aligned with the teachers union. The teachers union is adamantly against accountability. They don't like there to be lots of public information getting out there about how well students are doing because it's going to point out that the students at charter schools are generally doing far better than the students at the district schools that are unionized."</p><p>Success Academy has experienced ongoing conflict with teachers unions, particularly regarding co-locations in public school buildings. The United Federation of Teachers (UFT) filed a lawsuit in 2023 to block two Success Academy co-locations in Brooklyn and Queens, arguing that the city failed to account for a state-mandated class-size law.</p><p>Grannis argued that the state's decision to suppress score releases reflects a broader policy stance against standardized metrics, stating, "They have made this very public for years... they call it 'less testing, more teaching.' I think it might be more accurately titled 'less teaching, less accountability,' because essentially it hides the failure of the district schools to obtain results. And you know what governments do when they don't like unfavorable comparisons: they suppress information."</p><p>NYSED did not immediately respond to requests for comment.</p>