Last week, a California appeals court ruled in favor of upholding teacher tenure laws, overturning the decision handed down in the original case, Vergara v. California. This decision was a much needed one for students in the state, and nationwide.
Two years ago, the election for California’s State Superintendent of Public Instruction was one of the most closely watched elections in the country. With incumbent Tom Torlakson and challenger Marshall Tuck espousing two very different paths for the future of education, the race was seen as pivotal in shaping the national debate regarding education reform. Perhaps the most hotly contested issue of the election was teacher tenure laws. Torlakson, who had the support of the teachers union, advocated strongly against the ruling in Vergara v. California, which had suspended the state’s teacher tenure protections. His position gained him crucial support necessary to win reelection. Now, two years after being re-elected, Torlakson and teachers across the state appear to have won the battle.
Students may be the even bigger winners following the decision, considering the need for teachers in California. At the moment, California simply cannot afford to lose any more teachers. It’s ranked dead last when it comes to student-to-teacher ratios and it doesn’t seem as if this issue will be fixed soon. One in three teachers leave the profession within seven years and 13 percent leave after only two years. Furthermore, there has been a 53 percent decline in teacher training program enrollees across the past five years. For those concerned about these statistics, the original ruling in Vergara v. California seemed to exacerbate the issue at hand. If teachers had fewer job protections, as the ruling would have caused, then reducing the student-to-teacher ratio could prove much harder. In addition, tenure laws act as an incentive for new teachers to work hard during their early years, since adjusting to the profession can be difficult and the attrition rate is high.
While improving the student-to-teacher ratio is important, it is also important to have quality teachers in the classroom. The California Teachers Association agrees with this and has made efforts to minimize the number of unqualified teachers by reducing the number of teachers on emergency credentials or teaching out-of-subject. This helps to ensure that students are placed in classrooms with credentialed teachers and are receiving a quality education.
Granted, the plaintiffs in Vergara v. California did make a valid point in claiming that teacher tenure laws may lead to difficulties in replacing inadequate teachers. The process of firing a tenured teacher can take years and legal costs can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars for school districts. For those that support striking down teacher tenure laws, hope still lies within the judicial system as the case now moves to the California State Supreme Court.
The recent decision reversal, however, shouldn’t just be viewed as an intermediate step in the efforts to obtain a state Supreme Court ruling. Instead, the ongoing judicial battle should be viewed as a signal to legislators that serious reforms are needed to the California educational system. While increasing the amount of time required to obtain tenure may help, reforms should also be aimed at giving teachers the support and resources they need to succeed no matter where they are located. Simple steps such as paying teachers for the outside work they do in creating lessons plans may encourage some teachers to devote more time to this. Another possible policy reform involves shifting funds for administrators and outside consultants to programs that actually provide professional development for teachers. In addition to policy reforms, teachers need to be given more time to meet with each other, exchange ideas, and offer peer guidance. Steps like these may seem marginal, but in the long run they could provide substantial benefits for teachers and students.
Teacher tenure laws and policy reforms for the educational system will no doubt continue to be debated. In fact, California’s judicial battle is only the first in many rising up across the nation. Minnesota and New York are now facing similar judicial battles over teacher tenure laws and other states may follow suit as the issue continues to grow in prominence. No matter how these cases are decided, legislators around the nation should take this as a wake-up call that there’s still a lot more to do when it comes to education reform.
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