Students file suit
LOS ANGELES (AP) — In a packed courtroom, attorneys unveiled opposing views Monday on the emotionally divisive issue of whether California public school teachers should be protected from dismissal if they are found to be grossly ineffective in their jobs.
The opening volleys in what’s expected be a monthlong trial came from lawyers for nine students seeking to abolish teacher tenure and seniority, and from attorneys for the governor, state education department and teacher unions who say such extreme measures are not needed.
“The evidence will show that the impact of an effective teacher is profound and undeniable,” attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr. said. “This is the gateway to their success in society.”
He said he will present experts and studies showing that achievements in later life can be measured by interactions with good teachers.
One study showed that students taught by ineffective teachers had their lifetime income reduced by $2 million, Boutrous said.
The plaintiffs called as their first witness Los Angeles Unified School District Superintendent John Deasy, who testified about the difficulty of weeding out “grossly ineffective teachers” in the 18-month probationary period before they are granted tenure.
Under questioning by plaintiff’s attorney Marcellus McRae, Deasy said the district has been in the position of dismissing tenured teachers when they turned out to be grossly ineffective. He said it was a long and expensive process.
“An average successful termination is one to two years ,” he said. “But some cases have taken slightly less than 10 years."
Deasy said the cost to the school district for each dismissal ranges from $250,000 to $450,000. If misconduct is involved, it can cost even more, he said, because “you’re preparing a court case.”
The first named plaintiff in the case, 17-year-old Beatriz Vergara, will testify about teachers falling asleep in class, sitting and reading newspapers or playing YouTube videos while ignoring students, the lawyer said.
The trial, being heard by Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu without a jury, is the latest battle in a nationwide trend.
Dozens of states have moved in recent years to abolish or toughen the standards around giving teachers permanent employment protection and seniority-based preferences during layoffs.
Unions say eliminating such laws would erase a vital support system for a profession that is already losing talented people to higher-paid positions in the private sector.
The students oppose the tenure system they say keeps bad teachers in classrooms. Boutrous said the granting of tenure, which amounts to lifetime employment protection, after 18 months on the job is inadequate to guard against accepting unqualified teachers.
While there are 275,000 teachers in California, under the current rules the state dismisses just 10 teachers a year for being ineffective in their jobs, he said.