Dive Brief:
- A new lawsuit filed by parents of children in Minnesota's public schools claims that the state's tenure laws protect teachers who are more likely to do an inadequate job teaching disadvantaged children.
- The new suit alleges that teacher job protections cause educational inequity, and teachers unions like the American Federation of Teachers are expected to fight back as they have in other states.
- Also named as defendents are Gov. Mark Dayton, the state's Department of Education, and Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius, according to The New York Times.
Dive Insight:
Similar lawsuits have been filed in California and New York. Most recently in Vergara v. California, a California appeals court overturned the initial decision, ruling that the state's teacher-employment laws don't violate the state's constitution. Reaction to the initial decision against tenure has varied, with some, like reformer Michelle Rhee, calling the previous decision a "win for teachers and children," while others, like Diane Ravitch, called it the "latest attempt to blame teachers [and] undermine public education."
And in North Carolina, consequences of another teacher-tenure case battled out in court have ultimately resulted in a state Supreme Court ruling that lawmakers said "violated the constitutional rights of veteran teachers by taking away job protections they'd already earned," ABC News reported.