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Students Matter cheers committee stall on state ‘anti-Vergara’ bill
Last month, leaders from Students Matter held a conference call to rail against several bills in the California legislature that the group deemed “anti-Vergara.” Today the group is claiming a partial victory over Assembly Bill 753 after the Assembly Appropriations Committee voted to hold it in committee, essentially killing it for the current session. The bill would...
By LA School Report | May 28, 2015
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Report urges moderation on issues raised in Vergara ruling
Few topics in California education are as polarizing as the Vergara case, one of the most prominent battlegrounds for the reform vs. status quo wars. The ruling by a California Superior Court Judge last year wiped out job protection laws for teachers when it comes to layoffs, tenure and dismissals, but a new report and...
By Craig Clough | May 28, 2015
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Group behind Vergara case says website was hacked
The non-profit group behind the Vergara lawsuit, Students Matter, said its website was hacked over the weekend to display “vulgar and disgusting language.” The website as of this afternoon displayed the message, “We are temporarily Under Construction.” Students Matter sent out information about the hack in its regular newsletter Monday. The statement read: Over the weekend,...
By Craig Clough | May 11, 2015
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Students Matter goes on offensive against ‘anti-Vergara’ bills
The non-profit group behind the Vergara lawsuit, Students Matter, went on the offensive today against three bills introduced recently in the California legislature that the group says are “anti-Vergara” as well as unconstitutional. The bills, AB 753, AB 575, and SB 499, all work in direct opposition to the landmark Vergara v. California decision, Ben Austin, who leads policy development and advocacy...
By Craig Clough | April 22, 2015
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Appeals in Vergara case due before judges at end of March
The Vergara case is moving back into public view with appeal briefs from the defendants, who lost, due before a three-judge panel on March 30. Once the papers from the state and the two teachers unions, California Federation of Teachers and California Teachers Association, have been filed, lawyers for the plaintiffs have 40 days to...
By LA School Report | March 16, 2015
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National magazine, Reason, has a look at the Vergara case
With the eyes of the educational world closely watching the Vergara v. California case as it awaits an appeal ruling, the libertarian-tilted publication Reason magazine is the latest national media organization to profile the issue. The magazine and its affiliated Reason.tv website interviewed a number of people involved, including 14-year-old Vergara plaintiff and LA Unified...
By LA School Report | February 3, 2015
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Deasy, Austin join Vergara suit sponsor, Students Matter
The non-profit behind the Vergara lawsuit, Students Matter, is adding two former LA Unified lightning rods to their ranks. Ex-Superintendent John Deasy and founder of Parent Revolution, Ben Austin, are joining the advocacy group. Students Matter successfully sued the state of California and its public school teachers unions, overturning five laws governing tenure, seniority and...
By Vanessa Romo | January 15, 2015
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Survey: Teachers support changes in state job protection laws
The majority of public school teachers who participated in a new survey support changes in state teacher job protection laws that were the focus of last year’s landmark ruling in Vergara v. California. The findings were somewhat of a surprise in that the poll, conducted by Goodwin Simon Strategic Research for Teach Plus, a national nonprofit that...
By Craig Clough | January 12, 2015
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Vergara backer offers Sacramento a guide for new teacher laws
With an umambiguous victory in the Vergara lawsuit last year, the advocacy group that supported it financially, Students Matter, has developed a blueprint for the new legislature in Sacramento to rewrite the laws struck down by the trial court. Never mind that the case is on appeal by the defendants — the state and its...
By LA School Report | January 7, 2015
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Kashkari to Gov. Brown: ‘You should be ashamed of yourself’
Governor Jerry Brown and his Republican challenger, Neel Kashkari, spent a few testy minutes in their debate last night talking about public education. Their exchange largely focused on the recent decision by Brown, as a loser in Vergara vs. California, to appeal the ruling, which struck down laws protecting teacher employment rights. Brown was asked...
By LA School Report | September 5, 2014