August 27, 2013, 4:59 p.m. :: The performance ratings of individual teachers in the
Los Angeles Unified School District will be kept confidential until a legal battle over them is resolved, a judge decided Tuesday.
Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge James C. Chalfant ruled
earlier this month that the ratings must be released to the Los Angeles Times because public interest in them outweighed any teacher privacy rights under the
California Public Records Act. But L.A. Unified and United Teachers Los Angeles joined to ask Chalfant to delay the release until they could appeal the ruling.
In their court filing, the district and teachers union argued that “immediate release of the scores will cause irreparable harm to privacy rights, and that harm dramatically outweighs any prejudice or inconvenience that might be caused by a brief delay in public release of the records” pending their appeal.
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Document: Judge delays release of Los Angeles teacher ratings
The Times had opposed a delay, arguing that the Legislature had severely restricted agencies from using appeals as a delaying tactic to keep public records secret. The public records act bars courts from ordering delays unless those fighting disclosure have a probable chance of success and would suffer “irreparable damage” by the release of documents before the case was settled. The act also requires agencies to file a special appeal within 20 days after the initial ruling.
A delay would frustrate “the fundamental right of every person in this state to have prompt access to information in the possession of public agencies,” the Times argued in its legal filing.
Chalfant agreed with the district and teachers. To the extent that teachers and administrators would be harmed by the release of ratings, “there is no remedy that would undo that harm or restore the confidentiality lost,” he said in his ruling.
In courtroom remarks Tuesday, Chalfant said he usually does not grant delays because he is normally confident that his rulings are
