Your donation will help us produce journalism like this. Please give today.

A lawsuit that challenges teacher tenure and other job protection laws written into the California State code has a court date. But it’s still a year down the road, slated for January 27, 2014.

Filed on behalf of nine students by the non-profit Student Matters, Vergara v. California is taking on the state constitution. It alleges that five state laws which protect teachers, like offering teachers permanent tenure after 18 months, and laying off teachers based solely on seniority, have made firing ineffective teachers a difficult and expensive process. The plaintiffs argue that they thus conflict with a student’s constitutional right to an education. If successful, the case would affect all school districts in the state.

Read more about the lawsuit and its upcoming trial here.