How easy should it be for schools to get rid of bad teachers? A landmark case may decide for California
e sides squaring off in a Los Angeles appeals courtroom on Thursday in the landmark case of Vergara vs. California agree on this: Teachers are key to whether students founder or thrive, and far too many students are failing or falling behind.
The debate over how to address that problem has erupted into a pivotal fight over the competing and complementary rights of students and teachers.
The people who slammed the state with this high-stakes lawsuit have a straightforward prescription: Make it easier for schools to get rid of bad teachers.
Their opponents, including Gov. Jerry Brown and the state's powerful teachers unions, characterize this solution as simplistic and even dangerous.
In 2014, L.A. Superior Court Judge Rolf M. Treu sided with the diverse group of nine students who brought the suit with support from a number of wealthy backers who want to see schools become more businesslike.
Treu threw out the state's tenure and seniority systems, saying they harmed all students, but especially poor and minority students, leading to outcomes that "shocked the conscience."
If that ruling holds up under appeal, teachers at unionized schools will no longer be entitled to a level of job security that's rare, even in the public sector.
Other rules making it difficult and expensive to fire teachers would disappear as well. And when districts lay off teachers, those who've been around longest would no longer be guaranteed that they'll be the last to get pink slips. Instead, districts could use a teacher's performance to decide who to let go.
Timothy Daly, former president of a group called the New Teacher Project, applauds the lawsuit, saying that those challenging the state "are trying to prove that the laws make it impossible for districts to do the right thing for kids."
This viewpoint holds that employment laws pushed through by unions — which are the state's largest contributors to political campaigns — are depriving young people of the education to which the state Constitution entitles them. Poor children and students of color, this side argues, are disproportionately harmed because the worst teachers tend to wind up at poorly performing schools.
Opponents of the lawsuit, however, insist that the approach endorsed by the Superior Court judge would result in a lower-quality teaching corps. They say that the profession How easy should it be for schools to get rid of bad teachers? A landmark case may decide for California - LA Times:
Big Education Ape: Vergara Lawsuit Targets Teaching Profession - California Teachers Association http://bit.ly/21slN2b