Another controversy, another lawsuit.
This time it's Dhabah "Debbie" Almontaser - ex-principal of the Khalil Gibran International Academy, the Arabic-centered public school in Brooklyn - seeking a payday in Manhattan federal court.
Almontaser's suit claims the Bloomberg administration violated her First and 14th Amendment rights by forcing her out of her position for not adequately denouncing "Intifada NYC" T-shirts.
The shirts were produced by a women's group that shared headquarters space with an organization on whose board Almontaser sits.
The suit also names Schools Chancellor Joel Klein - who rejected Almontaser's application for reinstatement in September - and seeks "compensatory and punitive damages."
The fact is, though, that Almontaser was heading a school that arguably was created more for political reasons than academic ones. And her attempt to finesse the intifada issue showed a remarkable lack of judgment. She said it meant "shaking off of oppression," rather than what's understood in New York: murderous uprising.
She resigned during the ensuing uproar, saying she wanted to avoid becoming a distraction. Klein correctly accepted her resignation - and was right not to reinstate her.
Still, given that identity politics is part of the lifeblood of New York City, Almontaser has a good chance of winning her suit.
One way for Klein to avoid such an outcome would be to make the matter moot by simply shutting the school down.
It serves no good purpose, and one thing Klein doesn't need is a magnet school for aggrieved victims.
Or worse.