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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
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Brown’s Vergara appeal not so hard to understand
While editorial boards at most of California’s major newspapers all reacted favorably to Judge Rolf Treu’s ruling in Vergara vs. California, and a USC poll showed that a strong majority of California voters oppose the state’s tenure and layoff policies for public school teachers that the court ruling struck down, Gov. Jerry Brown nonetheless appealed...
By LA School Report | September 2, 2014
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Vergara appeal (or not) divisive issue for Torkalson and Tuck
* UPDATED The lower court’s final ruling in the Vergara case has pushed it into the race for State Superintendent of Public Instruction as the latest proxy fight between supporters of reform and protectors of the status quo. Tom Torlakson, the incumbent, is urging the state to appeal. Marshall Tuck, the challenger, is urging the state not...
By Vanessa Romo | August 29, 2014
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JUST IN: Vergara ruling stands, judge rules in final review
The judge in Vergara vs. California today released his final review of the case, affirming his preliminary decision in June, that five state statures governing teacher employment rules violate the California constitution by denying students access to a quality public education. In his final ruling, filed yesterday, Judge Rolf Treu, said, “plaintiffs have met their...
By Michael Janofsky | August 28, 2014
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Vergara legal team joining similar teacher case in New York
The LA-based legal team that prevailed in Vergara v. California, convincing a California judge to strike down state laws governing teacher employment, has been brought into a similar lawsuit now underway in New York. Students Matter, sponsor of Vergara, said today that Vergara lawyers, including Ted Boutrous and Marcellus McRae, would represent the plaintiffs in...
By LA School Report | August 6, 2014
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Lawsuit filed in New York takes after Vergara ruling
Via Edweek | by Stephen Sawchuck A second lawsuit challenging New York laws governing teacher tenure, layoffs, and dismissals has been filed on behalf of seven schoolchildren in the state. The suit, modeled on the successful Vergara v. California lawsuit in California, argues that those protections are depriving pupils of their constitutional right in New...
By LA School Report | July 29, 2014
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Top 6 shockers: how Weingarten and Deasy agree on tenure
The stage was set with the two public education luminaries, ready to square off on such lightning rod issues as tenure and teacher dismissal laws in the wake of last month’s Vergara trial: Randi Weingarten, leader of the nation’s second largest teachers organization, AFT, and Superintendent John Deasy, leader of the second largest school district in the...
By LA School Report | July 2, 2014
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Poll: CA voters oppose teacher tenure and layoff laws
A new poll shows that two-thirds of California voters agree that the state should get rid of “Last in, First Out,” a teacher tenure policy that requires the newest K-12 teachers be laid off first, regardless of merit. Just 17 percent said layoffs by reverse seniority should continue. The poll was conducted by the USC Rossier School...
By Vanessa Romo | June 26, 2014
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Commentary: Vergara decision on tenure — and our union
By Ron Taw I came to education out of the business world. Before entering the classroom, I was making my way up the corporate ladder at a Fortune 500 company. But then, over 15 years ago, I realized that I wanted a job where “success and advancement” would mean changing more lives, not just earning...
By Guest contributor | June 23, 2014
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Vergara aside, CA lawmakers considering bill to expand tenure
While much of the state waits out the appeal process in Vergara v. California, one member of the California assembly is moving forward with an effort to expand tenure to teachers in smaller school districts who have no tenure at all. The state law that grants tenure after two years was one of the five...
By Michael Janofsky | June 19, 2014