California Supreme Court allows teacher tenure laws to stand

[alp227]

Source: SF Chronicle

Tenure laws that provide job security for 277,000 California schoolteachers were preserved Monday when a divided state Supreme Court rejected a challenge by opponents who said the laws shielded incompetent instructors and harmed low-income and minority students.

The 4-3 vote was a victory for teachers and their unions, who argued that tenure was essential to protect teachers from arbitrary and politically motivated firings and that there was no evidence the job-security laws have damaged public education in California.

“When teachers feel protected, they can stand up for their students,” said Eric Heins, president of the state’s largest teachers’ union, the California Teachers Association. “It’s a good day for students and for educators.”

Read more: http://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/California-Supreme-Court-allows-teacher-tenure-9177654.php?t=007894ce5b1210a92f&cmpid=twitter-premium

[radical noodle]

1. This is very good news for teachers everywhere n/t

[JayhawkSD]

2. Whether good for teachers or not...

...it is the result of good faith between the union and the employer. No court should be allowed to overturn that without overturning the entire contract and requiring that union and employer start negotiation all over again.

It is less a victory for teachers than it is a victory for the basic principle of unionism. I am utterly appalled that the court would even be divided on this.

[JayhawkSD]

4. I stand self corrected

Upon further review I find that this issue is a matter of statue law, in the California Code of Education, which I find utterly bizarre. Terms of employment should be a matter of negotiation. Rendering them into statute law is... Weird.