Alternative bill to speed up teacher dismissals introduced - by John Fensterwald
A year ago, Assemblymember Joan Buchanan cast a deciding vote killing a bill that would have pared back the process for firing teachers and administrators alleged to have done egregious acts against children. She said the legislation dealt with a narrow subset of dismissal cases and failed to deal with cumbersome procedures affecting all dismissals.
Buchanan’s bill would set a seven-month limit on resolving dismissal appeals and put restrictions on rules of evidence.
On Tuesday, Buchanan, who now chairs the Education Committee, introduced her own bill, which takes a different tack while, she says, achieving the same goal: quickening the time it takes to dismiss teachers, with particular provisions applying to those charged with sexual acts and drug offenses involving children.
AB 375 was one of two bills that Buchanan, D-Alamo, announced Tuesday. The other would mandate what
