The NAACP has joined the teachers union in New York in an effort to keep New York schools open.

On Friday, May 20, the New York chapter of the NAACP filed a lawsuit with the union to stop the expansion of 19 charter schools across the city.

The original litigation was filed in the State Supreme Court by the United Federation of Teachers on May 18. The schools scheduled to be closed are “poor performing” schools and would result in a probable 4,100 layoffs.

The NAACP’s lawsuit is almost identical to the one the organization filed last year which halted the city from closing 15 failing schools.

The NAACP is claiming that the city has not put in enough effort to help the schools succeed and that allocating common areas such as auditoriums and gyms to charter schools gives the charter schools favored treatment.

Though the union is fighting to keep the schools open for obvious reasons, the main one being jobs, the reason the NAACP wants to keep the schools open is almost unclear considering the schools have failed.

(Photo: Chris Hondros/Getty Images)