Summary: Recent lawsuits have been filed in California challenging the state’s system of tenure and pure-seniority based layoffs. Students Matter recently filed a lawsuit in California seeking to overturn the rules governing the tenure system, which require schools to decide after 18 months whether a teacher deserves tenure, before a performance has been fully documented; to lay off teachers based almost solely on seniority; and to go through a protracted appeals process before laying off a teacher for poor performance. These lawsuits follow earlier suits concerning barring seniority-based lawsuits and the use of student performance in teacher reviews. How will this litigation affect education reform in California? Do other legal impediments stand in the way of a student receiving a quality education? How will the California’s teachers union affect these lawsuits? Do unions impede efforts to remove poor performing teachers, or are they a needed safeguard to ensure both a quality education for students and professional rights for educators? Featuring: Mr. Theodore J. Boutrous, Jr., Gibson Dunn & Crutcher; Mr. Jeremy Rosen, Horvitz & Levy; Mr. Richard J. Schwab, Trygstad, Schwab & Trygstad; and Moderator: Judge Andrew Guilford, U.S. District Court, Central District of California. Introduction by Mr. Eugene B. Meyer, President, The Federalist Society.
