The Vergara decision is three weeks old – and due to the teachers unions’ appeal, nothing has changed. Or has it? Because Judge Rolf Treu has placed a stay on his Vergara ruling pending the outcome of the teachers unions’ appeal, the tenure, seniority and dismissal statutes are still alive and well in California. However,...

… but the war is just beginning. Despite a landmark education decision in California favoring children over teachers unions, how much will really change? On June 10th, Judge Rolf Treu issued an unequivocal decision in the Students Matter (Vergara v California) case which revolved around the tenure, dismissal and seniority statutes in California’s education code....

“Landmark settlement” song has hackneyed words but still makes Top 10 in the “Hubris” category. In 2010, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit which claimed that seniority-based layoffs take a disproportionate toll on poor and minority schools. The ACLU won the case and the settlement protected students in up to 45 schools from...

Despite bellyaching from the union crowd, the California education code’s last in/first out (LIFO) statute must be tossed. California’s fiscal problems have taken a toll on the teaching profession in California. And the Golden State’s arbitrary seniority system, whereby staffing decisions are made by time spent on the job, has made things much worse. A...

Los Angeles Times op-ed and teachers union defense of educational status quo are packed with malarkey. Now in its third week, the Students Matter trial still has a ways to go. Initially scheduled to last four weeks, the proceedings are set to run longer. On Friday, Prosecutor Marcellus McRae told Judge Rolf Treu that the...

A recent memo accuses educators of racial discrimination while failing, with a few exceptions, to address the real problems. Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Justice issued a series of guidelines regarding the suspension of students from school. In short, though partially correct, the DOJ report is misguided, misleading, and missing key elements relevant...

CTA ends 2013 spewing meaningless bromides in an effort to convince us that the union is the victim and the Students Matter lawsuit is the work of a vast corporate conspiracy. On January 27th, the Students Matter (Vergara v. California) case starts in Los Angeles. John Fensterwald explains that the lawsuit … asserts that five...

National Education Association new “reform” document is free of substance. Apparently threatened by the education reform movement taking hold across the country, the National Education Association has decided to join the party. In concert with six other organizations – including the American Federation of Teachers – the biggest union in the country has released “Excellent...

After a loss in Indiana, the teachers unions’ war on education intensifies in Chicago and California. In 2011, Indiana passed a school choice bill which currently allows 9,300 kids from low and middle income families with household income below 150 percent of school lunch eligibility to receive vouchers equal to between 50 and 90 percent...

In California schools, the fifth month (formerly known as May) is now Labor History Month. As Kevin Dayton pointed out in Union Watch last week, the entire month of May is now officially deemed Labor History Month in California. Courtesy of AB 2269, the state education code has been amended to read, The month of...