Calif. teacher tenure case spices up superintendent race
The Vergara case in California, in which a judge struck down that state’s tenure laws and other job protections for teachers, is about to become a central issue in the November race for state schools chief.
The incumbent, Tom Torlakson, a Democrat, is a former legislator with strong union backing. Torlakson was named as a defendant in the Vergara case along with Gov. Jerry Brown (D).
He is facing a challenge from another Democrat, Marshall Tuck, who was president of Green Dot, a chain of public charter schools. Green Dot is one of a few charters with unionized teachers. But Tuck has sided with the plaintiffs in Vergara, calling the state’s teacher protections “a broken system.”
Their differences set up a political dilemma for Torlakson: as a defendant, does he accept the state Supreme Court ruling in the Vergara case, alienating teachers unions but robbing Tuck of ammunition? Or does he appeal the ruling, counting on the political clout of the unions to deliver for him at the ballot box?
On Friday, Torlakson cast his lot with the unions.
A California judge ruled that the state's teacher tenure rules violate the civil rights of students, as the worst teachers end up in the highest-poverty schools, creating unequal conditions. Read it.
“The people who dedicate their lives to the teaching profession deserve our admiration and support. Instead, this ruling lays the failings of our education system at their feet,” he said in a statement announcing that he would seek an appeal of the Vergara decision.
“We do not fault doctors when the emergency room is full,” Torlakson said. “We do not criticize the firefighter whose supply of water runs dry. Yet Calif. teacher tenure case spices up superintendent race - The Washington Post: