Success Academy, New York City's largest charter school network, has filed a federal First Amendment lawsuit against New York State Education Commissioner Betty A. Rosa, accusing the state of unlawfully blocking the release of students' Advanced Placement exam results to U.S. News & World Report for its annual high school rankings. The network's attorney, Eric Grannis, argues that withholding this data prevents the publication of truthful, independently verified information and represents a clear violation of publication rights, particularly since AP data has been shared for such rankings for decades without issue.

Because the state declined to authorise the College Board to release 2026 AP scores, U.S. News based its advanced-course rankings solely on International Baccalaureate data, a metric Success Academy does not offer, causing its statewide ranking to plunge from 11th to 196th. The network says this obscures strong results, noting that 95% of its 2026 graduating class passed three or more AP exams and 60% passed seven or more, compared with a national AP pass rate below 25%. Founded in 2006, Success Academy educates over 22,000 mostly low-income, Black and Hispanic students and has previously outperformed wealthier districts like Scarsdale in state maths and English tests. NYSED has defended its stance by citing student data privacy laws and opposition to commercialising student information.