Students Win over Seniority Laws

Big news out of California, where a state judge struck down that state’s teacher seniority and tenure laws. The lawsuit was filed by 9 students who believed that teacher tenure rules and Last-In-First-Out policies hurt good teachers, and thus hindered their ability to get a quality education.

The court agreed!

What do teacher union CEO’s have to say about this ruling? They ignore the issue, and instead point to the usual bogeymen with name calling. Here’s NEA president Dennis Van Roekel:

This lawsuit was never about helping students, but is yet another attempt by millionaires and corporate special interests to undermine the teaching profession and push their own ideological agenda on public schools and students while working to privatize public education.

Pennsylvania has its own opportunity to reform antiquated seniority laws and protect excellent teachers, putting kids first. HB 1722, which would use the new teacher evaluation system rather than seniority only for furloughs and rehiring decisions, passed the House Education committee last week.