Why Vergara (K-12 Tenure ruling) Matters to UC-AFT Members

You have probably seen media coverage of the Superior Court ruling on Vergara vs. State of California.  The ruling strikes down due process, time to tenure and other job protections for California's K-12 teachers as unconstitutional on the grounds that they have a disproportionate and negative impact on quality of education for low income and minority students.  The ruling was immediately stayed pending appeal.

In his blog post on Vergara, Bob Samuels exposes some of the underlying myths about public education that the decision relied on.  In her recent blog posts, Diane Ravitch points out some of the more troubling weaknesses in the plaintiffs' case, and this legal analysis of the ruling questions whether it will stand after appeal. Regardless of the ultimate outcome of the case, supporters of the ruling are now using it to promote their message that teachers' unions are to blame for the daily challenges we face in public education.  

The backers of the lawsuit are Silicon Valley millionaires posing as "school reformers" and operating under the front Students Matter. Their basic narrative is that if union supported ed code statutes are removed, bad teachers will be replaced with great teachers and the quality of education will improve. The narrative, and the ruling, completely ignore the effects of poverty, violence, language barriers and under-resourced schools on educational outcomes. If Students Matter and their supporters really cared about improving educational equity and outcomes in California, they would work with teachers and their unions to find real solutions.  Instead, they attack us.

The Vergara ruling has given the privatizers a huge platform and they are using it for maximum gain. In this battle for public perception, our strength is in our stories and our connections with our students and families.  We worked with a coalition of education advocates to pass Prop 30, which for the first time in years stopped the bleeding in public education funding.  We backed Governor Brown's initiative that will bring greater resources to our students in low income schools.  Everyday we work with our students, through all their personal struggles, to give them the best education we can.  

Now is a great time to show some support for K-12 teachers and the broad role that teachers' unions play in advocating for public education.  Take a minute to post a message on social media supporting your local teachers and their right to due process.  Encourage your friends and family to look beyond the narrow "bad teacher" construct and ask them to consider positive solutions like better recruitment, retention and professional development strategies, more equitable funding across school districts, and long term refunding of education in California.