Republicans’ bills would change teacher tenure, layoff laws 

[EdSource, 3/5/15]

Assembly Republicans announced bills Wednesday that would change state laws that establish teacher tenure and a layoff system based on seniority – two employment protections for teachers that a California Superior Court judge threw out in his sweeping Vergara v. the State of California ruling last year. 

http://edsource.org/2015/republicans-bills-would-change-teacher-tenure-layoff-laws/75999#.VPm95GTF9X9

With Constitutional Litigation and Strikes Looming, LAUSD Negotiations with Teachers Hit Impasse

[Ed Law Professor’s Blog, 3/3/15]

Los Angeles Unified School District, the nation's second largest school district, is the epicenter of the nation's fight over teacher tenure, with plaintiffs arguing that tenure rights that prevent schools from removing ineffective teachers violate students' constitutional right to education.

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2015/03/with-constitutional-litigation-and-strikes-loomings-lausd-negotiations-with-teachers-hit-impasse.html

Jury: Fallbrook Schools Must Pay Ex-Employee $1M for Retaliation 

[Voice of San Diego, 2/26/15]

A jury Thursday afternoon ordered the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District to pay its former IT director Elaine Allyn over $1 million for retaliating against her for objecting to the deletion of district emails. 

http://voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/jury-fallbrook-schools-must-pay-ex-employee-1m-retaliation/

San Francisco archbishop backs off on strict morals code for teachers 

[San Francisco Chronicle, 2/25/15]

Under pressure from parents, students and staffers at the San Francisco Catholic Archdiocese’s schools, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said Tuesday that he is peeling back strict guidelines he proposed for teachers that would require them to reject homosexuality, use of contraception and other “evil” behavior. 

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-archbishop-backs-off-on-strict-6099465.php

The Constitutional Challenge to Teacher Tenure

[Education Law Professor’s Blog, 2/24/15]:

This past summer the trial court in Vergara v. State struck down California's tenure statutes and its last-in-first-out  rules for layoffs. A copycat suit followed in New York shortly thereafter. Given the momentous nature of the case and the litigants' intent to spread the theory across other states, serious consideration of the issues the case and theory raise are incumbent. 

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/education_law/2015/02/the-constitutional-challenge-to-teacher-tenure.html

San Francisco archbishop fires back at lawmaker critics 

[San Francisco Chronicle, 2/19/15]

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone fired back Thursday at state lawmakers who characterized as intolerant and possibly illegal his effort to have teachers at four Catholic high schools sign a labor contract declaring their opposition to same-sex unions, abortion and contraception.

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-archbishop-fires-back-at-lawmaker-critics-6091327.php

‘Constitutional crisis’ declared as Los Angeles Unified lawyers defend teacher evaluation system

[Los Angeles Daily News, 2/19/15]

Citing the Vergara v. California case, in which a Los Angeles Superior Court judge last year ruled teacher tenure laws deprived students of their constitutional right to an education by keeping incompetent teachers in classrooms, LAUSD lawyers wrote the controversial evaluation system is needed to alleviate a crisis that deprives students of their constitutional right to an education in documents that LAUSD filed with the California Public Employment Relations Board on Tuesday.

http://www.dailynews.com/article/20150218/NEWS/150219456

Amid measles outbreak, few rules on teacher vaccinations [AP, 2/16/15]: While much of the attention in the ongoing measles outbreak has focused on student vaccination requirements and exemptions, less attention has been paid to another group in the nation’s classrooms: Teachers and staff members, who, by and large, are not required to be vaccinated. 

http://www.dailynews.com/article/20150216/NEWS/150219632

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone spells out schools’ sex doctrine 

[San Francisco Chronicle, 2/4/15]

The conservative Roman Catholic archbishop of San Francisco has developed a new document for Catholic high school faculty and staff clarifying that sex outside of marriage, homosexual relations, the viewing of pornography and masturbation are “gravely evil.”

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/SF-archbishop-clarifies-sexual-doctrine-for-high-6060293.php

Where does 'public life’ end for Catholic school teachers?

[San Francisco Chronicle, 2/3/15]

Educators at East Bay Catholic schools must “demonstrate a public life consistent with the teachings of the Catholic Church” as part of a new contract disclosed Monday. 

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Where-does-public-life-end-for-Catholic-6057915.php

Compliance issues spotlight teacher evaluation stalemate 

[Cabinet Report, 2/2/15]

More than five years have passed since President Barack Obama warned lawmakers in California that federal funding was at risk because the state failed to use education data to distinguish poor teachers from good ones. 

https://www.cabinetreport.com/curriculum-instruction/compliance-issues-spotlight-teacher-evaluation-stalemate