Important lawsuit, important decision re Louisiana teachers

“Louisiana illegally fired 7,500 teachers, judge says.”

From the June 22, 2012, New York Times:

As much as some may wish otherwise, there is no starting from scratch when rebuilding a city, or a school system.

A judge confirmed that here on Wednesday, ruling that the Orleans Parish School Board and the Louisiana Department of Education, in laying the groundwork for a school reform movement that has become nationally recognized, illegally fired 7,500 school employees.

The decision by Ethel S. Julien, a federal District Court judge, backed by 45 pages of reasoning and historical narrative, reinforced a long-held counter-narrative of the beginnings of that movement.

….

Judge Julien found that state law required the board to show just cause, in writing, before firing a tenured teacher, and that fired employees are entitled to hearings.

Given the relentless, nasty war against teachers, tenure and (let us not forget) unions —  by so-called education “reformers,” i.e., politicians, for-profit corporations and big-money foundation dilettantes like Bill Gates, who have apparently decided that after making billions selling technology, they know more about educating children than do teachers — that last sentence is exceptionally welcome.

 

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