ALJAZEERA: Nine California public school students sponsored by an advocacy group are suing the state over its laws on teacher tenure, seniority and other protections that the plaintiffs say keep bad educators in classrooms.
The lawsuit, which went to trial Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, seeks to overturn five California statutes that set guidelines for tenure, firing and layoff practices for K-12 public school teachers, saying the rules violate the constitutional rights of students by denying them effective teachers.
Among the rules targeted by the lawsuit is one that requires school administrators to either grant or deny tenure status to teachers after the first 18 months of their employment. The suit says this causes administrators to hastily give permanent employment to potentially problematic teachers… (more)
