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Massachusetts Teachers Association President Barbara Madeloni said it's a crucial time for organized labor nationwide.

The largest teacher's union in the state has responded to the threat of lawsuit by three Boston lawyers regarding the state cap on charter schools, dismissing the basis for the suit.

Paul F. Ware Jr., Michael B. Keating, and William F. Lee told The Boston Globe they plan to file a lawsuit in the hopes of overturning the cap on the number of charter schools in Massachusetts. The three say the cap denies urban students the right to a quality education.

"Any claim that the charter school cap is the basis of Massachusetts children being denied their civil rights is appalling and deceptive," MTA President Barbara Madeloni said in a statement Sunday. "The real threat to our students -- and to our democracy -- is the two-tiered school system funded by public dollars that charter proponents will go to any lengths to expand."

Madeloni went on to say, the lawsuit "will represent just one more step in the effort to dismantle public education, put public resources into private hands, and undermine the schools in our poorest communities."

Current limits allow for up to 18 percent of the state's lowest-performing school districts to be spent on charter school tuition.

The lawsuit, the Globe reports, will be filed in either the state Supreme Judicial Court or Superior Court and will name Secretary of Education James A. Peyser and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education as defendants.

While Peyser is named in the suit, he is a known advocate for charter schools. He was appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker, who has also spoken against the state cap on charter schools.

Madeloni called the named defendants concerning because of Peyser and Baker's stances on charter schools. Due to their support of the efforts to lift the current cap, she called on a response to the lawsuit to be handled by the state attorney general'f office.