A California superior-court judge ruled yesterday that the tenure system for the state?s teachers was a source of discrimination against students in low-income families. The ruling, titled Vergara v. California, has the potential to overturn five state laws and rewrite teacher contracts across the state. The California Teachers Association has filed an appeal, and until that is resolved, the ruling will not take full effect. The reasoning for the judge?s ruling is that it is near impossible to fire a poor teacher, and even during layoffs the first teachers fired are the first let go. The judge reasoned that if tenure were reduced, poor teachers could be let go, rather than transferred.
See "Will California?s Ruling Against Teacher Tenure Change Schools?", Dana Goldstein, The Atlantic, June 10, 2014