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Update: “Reed” Reversal

Alexander Russo | August 12, 2012



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Late Friday, California’s 2nd District Court of Appeals voided the settlement on the Reed v. CA lawsuit, which had rewritten how teacher layoffs are conducted at 45 under-performing LAUSD schools. That settlement — result of a lawsuit brought by students in low performing schools who called the practice discriminatory– reversed the so-called ‘last in/first out’ practice, which has traditionally given preference to teachers with seniority when LAUSD is conducting layoffs for budgetary reasons. At the time, it was seen as a huge victory for the ACLU which helped litigate the case, as well as Mayor Villaraigosa, who has been an advocate for reforming the seniority layoff practice. The ACLU issued a statement saying it will appeal the decision. LAUSD superintendent John Deasy said he will urge the Board to join the appeal at Tuesday’s meeting.  UTLA president Warren Fletcher called the settlement a failure.  The Reed schools will retain their exemption during the appeal process.  (For more: ACLU post on original settlement; Los Angeles Times story on Appellate decision here).

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