Schools Matter But Judge Rules Not All Teachers Do
Julia Macias, at a news conference Tuesday, was one of nine students who claimed tenure laws left bad teachers in place. Credit Monica Almeida/The New York Times
Months ago we asked; could it be that at present education policies are designed to serve only a selected population. Might it also be true that education reforms are enacted merely as a distraction? Is union-busting the issue too? In July 2013, that was the question. How might we see the two? What was then a new study found that drops in white student achievement often lead to the passage of “teacher quality” bills while dips in black student achievement did little to drive education reforms. Surprise?
We have known for years that euphemisms exist. “Students Matter” may be a phrase that any one would endorse. But do we support an organization that bears the name, one vested in privatization? Clearly, Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan, did and does, or at least he sanctions their position. Today, after the California Courts ruled in favor of the association, striking struck down teacher tenure laws the Secretary was asked for his opinion. “The students who brought this lawsuit are, unfortunately, just nine out of millions of young people in America who are disadvantaged by laws, practices and systems that fail to identify and support our best teachers and match them with our neediest students. Today’s court decision is a mandate to fix these problem,” offered Arne Duncan. And thus, education reform policies that divide us persist.
If you weren’t watching before, there were warnings – This Trial Could Change Public Education Forever.Perhaps it did. The question is what will you do now? Sit back and ponder, what does it mean to resist? Does it mean that you refuse to accept a ruling, that you contemplate an appeal, or do you do as Education Reformers did, stand strong while working to further your beliefs?
It may be time, past time, to question….What is education? Are “Students First” when we say good-bye to experience? Do we demonstrate that Students Matter when we deny them well-trained teachers?
By Jennifer Medina | Originally Published at The New York Times. June 10, 2014LOS ANGELES — A California judge ruled Tuesday that teacher tenure laws deprived students of their right to an education under the State Constitution and violated their civil rights. The decision hands teachers’ unions a major defeat in a landmark case, one that could radically alter how California teachers are hired and fired and prompt challenges to tenure laws in other states.
“Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the challenged statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or minority students,” Judge Rolf M. Treu of Los Angeles Superior Court wrote in the ruling. “The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience.”
The decision, which was enthusiastically endorsed by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, brings a close to the first chapter of the case, Vergara v. California, in which a group of student plaintiffs backed by a Silicon empathyeducates – Schools Matter But Judge Rules Not All Teachers Do:
