New York ( CNN ) -- An education advocacy group has filed a lawsuit against New York City and state education officials challenging teacher-tenure laws , on the heels of a watershed case in which a California judge ruled that state 's tenure laws unconstitutional . The lawsuit filed Thursday in State Supreme Court on behalf of 11 New York City public school students claims that tenure laws can prevent students from receiving a `` sound basic education , '' according to a statement from the New York City Parents Union , of which parents of the plaintiffs are members . `` Teachers in New York City are more likely to die on the job than be replaced because of poor performance , '' the lawsuit said . The lawsuit is framed similarly to a case brought in California , in which a judge in June deemed teacher tenure unconstitutional , saying it kept bad teachers in the classroom and forced out promising good ones . That landmark ruling was hailed by the nation 's top education chief as opening opportunities across the nation to `` build a new framework for the teaching profession . '' The decision represented `` a mandate '' to fix a broken teaching system , U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said . In New York , the lawsuit claims that under city law an educator who obtains tenure is shielded from dismissal , no matter how incompetent they are or how poorly their students perform . `` The state requires a quality-blind approach to layoffs that considers only years of service -- and completely ignores job performance and the ability to deliver a sound quality education , '' the lawsuit said . But the New York State United Teachers union said tenure laws are `` wildly misunderstood '' and claimed teacher tenure does not ensure a job for life , as is commonly believed . `` Earning tenure in New York simply means that , if a teacher is accused of incompetence or wrongdoing , she is entitled to a fair hearing before she can be fired , '' NYSUT President Karen E. Magee said in a statement last week . CNN was unable to reach the union for comment Friday about the lawsuit . Magee called the process for removing teachers `` due process of law . '' The Parents Union , however , called the process rare . The lawsuit said only 12 teachers between 1997 and 2007 in the New York City school system were formally replaced because of poor performance . The New York City Department of Education has 75,000 teachers in any given year , working in the largest school system in the country . Mona Davids and Sam Pirozzolo -- the parents union 's president and vice president -- said in a statement that the legal action was not an attack on teachers or unions , but rather an attempt to give their children a voice and establish a system that `` rewards and retains excellent teachers '' while providing appropriate resources to struggling teachers . Reforming teacher tenure and firing laws is a hotly debated issue in American education , with the California case widely seen as setting the stage for similar action nationally . Reformers say tenure laws and union protections make firing a bad teacher almost impossible , but teachers and their unions argue that school boards and their firing criteria have unfair , overtly political standards . The NYC Department of Education is the largest system of public schools in the United States , serving about 1.1 million students in more than 1,700 schools .
New York student plaintiffs : Teacher - tenure laws are flawed . Union : Tenure laws are ` ` wildly misunderstood , '' teachers are entitled to due process . In a similar California case , a court threw out California teacher - tenure laws .