Gary Ravani
Last year a group calling itself Students Matter filed a lawsuit, Vergara v. the State of California. The lawsuit challenges a number of labor protections for California’s teachers, including due process rights for dismissals and seniority rights during layoffs.
The suit, which goes to trial next week in state Superior Court, and its backers’ publicity strategy fit firmly within the unfortunate recent tradition of wealthy anti-union ideologues masquerading as civil rights crusaders and education reformers.
A representative of the high-priced corporate law firm pressing Vergararecently wrote an article in EdSource Today attempting to place the suit in the footsteps of the 1963 civil rights March on Washington, Brown v. Board of Education and California’s Serrano v. Priest school funding decision.
Let’s examine the real history and evaluate the claims based on fact. Do students and their learning really matter to Students Matter?
Recall the image of Martin Luther King Jr. standing before the multitudes during the March on Washington delivering his “I Have a Dream” speech. Behind King stand leading activists from the civil rights community, the faith community and unions. Many today forget the March was as much