Dive Brief:
- Two years ago, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge found five state statutes dealing with teacher tenure in California to be in violation of students’ rights to an equal education under the California Constitution, and that Vergara v. California decision will now be reconsidered by a state appeals court.
- Vergara v. California is being watched by teacher unions and education experts nationwide, as it may set precedent over how tenure is established and executed.
- In California, teachers are able to receive tenure after two years of teaching, and districts have struggled financially to remove those who prove to be ineffective.
Dive Insight:
In New York, reverberations from the Superior Court ruling in Vergara v. California are being felt in a parallel suit filed by the Partnership for Education Justice, a nonprofit backed by the powerful Walton and Broad Family Foundations. There, the United Federation of Teachers released an 8-page memo aimed at critics who were advocating against teacher tenure.
Reactions to the initial decision varied; with some like Michelle Rhee calling the ruling is "a win for teachers and children" and others like Diane Ravitch saying that the ruling was an attempt to blame teachers and "undermine public education." On the heels of the decision, plaintiff group Student Matters also sued 13 California school districts for refusing to link student test scores to teacher performance.
Around the country, state reactions were also diverse. In Michigan, a Michigan Appeals Court decided that the state does not have a say in teacher employment. And in North Carolina, a lawsuit over inequity in the classroom also involved teacher effectiveness and tenure.