Christmas returns to the stand as the Vergara trial resumes
LA School Report | February 3, 2014
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Testimony resumes this morning in Vergara v California, with Troy Christmas of the Oakland Unified School District returning to the stand to face cross examination by lawyers for the defendants — the state and its two big teachers unions.
Christmas, the Director of Labor Management and Employee Relations for his district, has largely plowed the same ground as LA Unified’s Superintendent John Deasy did at the start of the trial last week. They both testified that state laws governing teacher tenure, dismissal and seniority make it difficult for school districts to weed out those who are ineffective.
Lawyers for the defendants have tried to show that school administrations have managed their teaching staffs just as well, with the laws in place.
After Christmas, lawyers for the plaintiffs — nine public school students — intend to examine the issues through a witness from yet another part of the state, Jonathan Raymond, the former superintendent of the Sacramento city schools.