"Appeals court reverses ruling that threw out teacher tenure in California"

"In a major victory for unions, a California appeals court on Thursday reversed a lower court ruling that had thrown out tenure and other job protections for the state's public school teachers.

...“I think it’s a win certainly for educators, but also a win for students,” California Teachers Assn. President Eric C. Heins said of the ruling. “The trial never made the connection between the harms [the plaintiffs] were alleging and the statutes they were challenging. I think the laws have been working.”

...Lawyers representing the plaintiffs, a diverse group of nine students, vowed Thursday to file an appeal with the state Supreme Court.

...The appellate court decision overturned the 2014 ruling in Vergara vs. California, which held that several key job protections for teachers were so harmful that they deprived students of their constitutional right to an education.

In that case, L.A. County Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu had sided with the plaintiffs, saying the tenure system resulted in educational malpractice that “shocks the conscience.”

The effect of the rules, he said, was to allow ineffective teachers to keep their jobs and subject students — especially poor and minority ones — to inferior schooling that could stunt their futures."

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-court-rejects-bid-to-end-teacher-tenure-in-california-marking-huge-win-for-unions-20160414-story.html