Calif. court overturns LAUSD's 'last hired, first fired' exemption

Original article in KPCC's Pass/Fail by Tami Abdollah.

A major class-action settlement that gives LAUSD teachers layoff protection at several dozen schools in high-poverty areas has been invalidated by the California 2nd District Court of Appeal.

The 2 to 1 decision, with Associate Justice Kathryn Doi Todd dissenting and Associate Justice Judith Ashmann-Gerst and Associate Justice Victoria M. Chavez concurring, focuses on the technical aspects of Reed vs. United Teachers Los Angeles. The justices agreed that the teachers' union has a right to a trial where the merits of its case can be examined more fully.

...But Lisa Alva Wood, a teacher at Roosevelt High School, has followed the case closely and filed an amicus brief in the case along with several dozen other UTLA members and teachers. She called the ruling a "shame."

Wood said she was glad that school staffs would remain stable for Tuesday's early start of the year. But she also said that the decision "means that now more than ever, UTLA and LAUSD must come to an agreement on a feasible teacher evaluation system."

To read the complete article, visit KPCC's Pass/Fail.