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With post-trial briefs in, Vergara 90-day clock starts ticking
Just in case Judge Rolf Treu might have missed anything during the two months of Vergara v. California, a battle over teacher employment protections that concluded last month, the parties filed their post-trial briefs yesterday, each making one last effort to influence Judge Treu’s decision. At issue are five state laws that govern tenure, dismissal...
By LA School Report | April 11, 2014
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Commentary: An extraordinary effort for extraordinary need
LAUSD School Board Member Steve Zimmer’s recent commentary “Standing with Beatriz” hit the nail on the head on one key issue: for our children, the stakes are high. Let me acknowledge first that Mr. Zimmer is a good person who is doing what he feels is best for the children of LAUSD. On this issue,...
By Ben Austin | April 3, 2014
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Commentary: Standing with Beatriz against Vergara
Just over a year ago, I won re-election to the Los Angeles Unified School District board. It was an unlikely victory in what may have been the most expensive school board race in U. S. history. The wealthiest of self-styled reformers – Eli Broad, Reed Hastings, Michael Bloomberg and Michelle Rhee’s followers – put in over $4-million...
By Steve Zimmer | March 28, 2014
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Vergara trial ends, with CA teacher laws hanging in the balance
Lawyers from both sides in Vergara v California — the state’s most significant teacher rights case in two decades — unleashed their final arguments today, in a last attempt to amplify their own case and destroy their opponent’s. The case is now in the hands of state Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu, who gave the...
By Mark Harris | March 27, 2014
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Vergara case inside court, dueling press conferences outside
As lawyers in the Vergara v. California case made their closing arguments inside the court room for the benefit of an audience of one – Judge Rolf Treu – their dueling press conferences held outside were directed at a statewide audience, to be broadcast by a number of television cameras. The state defense team got...
By Vanessa Romo | March 27, 2014
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Laws must be struck down, plaintiffs say in their closing
Via The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — An attorney representing nine California public school students told a judge Thursday that laws making it too hard to fire bad teachers and retain good ones are preventing students from obtaining a decent education and must be struck down. Theodore Boutrous Jr. made his assertions in a closing...
By LA School Report | March 27, 2014
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Analysis: Vergara approaching time for Treu judgement
Closing arguments are scheduled for tomorrow in Vergara v California. Lawyers for the nine public school children who are the plaintiffs will speak from 10 to noon, followed by their defense counterparts, from 1:30 to 3:30. The plaintiffs have the option to get in a last word after that, but, really, is there much new...
By Michael Janofsky | March 26, 2014
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Vergara trial ends with a flurry of objections; closings Thursday
“Evidence is closed,” Judge Rolf Treu pronounced from his seat in Superior Court today, thus drawing the curtain on two months of testimony in Vergara v. California. Since Jan. 27, lawyers representing nine students-as-plaintiffs and their adversaries — the state and its two powerful teachers unions — the California Federation of Teachers and the California...
By Vanessa Romo | March 24, 2014
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Defense rests in Vergara after a battle over dismissal stats
The defense rested its case today in Vergara v. California after an examination of an LA Unified administrator that was designed to show that the state laws under challenge did not impede the district’s effort to get rid of ineffective teachers. On Monday, court resumes with the plaintiffs’ opening a short rebuttal phase of the trial,...
By Michael Janofsky | March 21, 2014
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In Vergara, Darling-Hammond defends all the CA teacher laws
The defense in Vergara v California called its final witness to the stand today, a nationally-recognized expert on education policy, who provided testimony that heavily supported all the state laws under challenge in the case. Throughout the day, Linda Darling-Hammond, who teaches at the Stanford Graduate School of Education, said unequivocally that the California laws...
By Vanessa Romo | March 20, 2014