Adolfo Guzman Lopez

In this file photo, plaintiff Elizabeth Vergara speaks during a lunch break news conference during the closing arguments of the Vergara trial in Los Angeles. A lawsuit claims the state's teacher tenure rules deprive students of a good education by making it almost impossible to fire ineffective teachers.

California teacher protections are unconstitutional, according to a ruling by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Tuesday. The ruling found that California teacher tenure, firing and discipline procedures are unconstitutional because they violate children’s right to an adequate education.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• 12:23 p.m. Officials should take judge's decision as mandate to change laws no...
• 12:12 p.m. Education Secretary Arne Duncan: Vergara decision a 'mandate' to fi...
• 11:54 a.m. Superintendent Deasy: California shouldn't wait to change teacher t...
• 10:17 a.m. Calif. judge says state teacher protections unconstitutional
• 7:26 a.m. Calif. judge could change teacher job security

Update 12:23 p.m. Officials should take judge's decision as mandate to change laws now, says entrepreneur behind lawsuit

The Silicon Valley entrepreneur who bankrolled the successful fight against California teacher protections said he was “ecstatic” by the overwhelming win.
 
“It is an incredible day for the public education of the children of California — and I believe also the country,” said David Welch, founder of the tech firm Infinera, during a conference call Tuesday afternoon put on by his nonprofit Students Matter. He ignored a reporter’s question about what filing the case cost him.
 
Students Matter has stated its intention to push for similar changes in other states.
 
The group’s big message in the press conference was that legislators and policymakers should take the judge’s decision as a mandate to change laws now, rather than wait for appeals.
 
“We’ve been challenged now to find a better solution than what has been the status quo,” Welch said.

— KPCC staff

Update 12:12 p.m. Education Secretary Arne Duncan: Vergara decision a 'mandate' to fix education system

The Vergara v. California decision finding state teacher protections unconstitutional is a "mandate" to fix "laws, practices and systems that fail to identify and support our best teachers and match them with our neediest students," U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said in a statement Tuesday.

Duncan said that the decision presents the opportunity to build a new teaching framework, which gives students the opportunity to receive an equal education while giving teachers good careers. He also said that he hopes the decision quickly leads to changes in practice.

"My hope is that today’s decision moves from the courtroom toward a collaborative process in California that is fair, thoughtful, practical and swift," Duncan said.

Duncan said that they are working on the federal level to support that kind of discussion in states, as well as looking to address other problems, "including school funding, access to quality early childhood programs and school discipline."

Read the full statement below:

For students in California and every other state, equal opportunities for learning must include the equal opportunity to be taught by a great teacher. The students who brought this lawsuit are, unfortunately, just nine out of millions of young people in America who are disadvantaged by laws, practices and systems that fail to identify and support our best teachers and match them with our neediest students.

Today’s court decision is a mandate to fix these problems. Together, we must work to increase public confidence in public education. This decision presents an opportunity for a progressive state with a tradition of innovation to build a new framework for the teaching profession that protects students’ rights to equal educational opportunities while providing teachers the support, respect and rewarding careers they deserve.

My hope is that today’s decision moves from the courtroom toward a collaborative process in California that is fair, thoughtful, practical and swift. Every state, every school district needs to have that kind of conversation.

At the federal level, we are committed to encouraging and supporting that dialogue in partnership with states. At the same time, we all need to continue to address other inequities in education — including school funding, access to quality early childhood programs and school discipline.

— Mike Roe

Update 11:54 a.m. Superintendent Deasy: California shouldn't wait to change teacher tenure laws

Los Angeles schools superintendent John Deasy, who testified on behalf of the plaintiffs, said Tuesday that California shouldn’t wait to change teacher job protection laws.
 
“Every day that these laws remain in effect represent another opportunity denied,” he said during a conference call put on by Students Matter, the nonprofit behind the lawsuit that successfully challenged those laws. “It’s unacceptable.”

He said he would reach out to Attorney General Kamala Harris to draw up new laws now.
 
Judge Rolf Treu’s ruling Tuesday morning — finding California teacher tenure, firing and discipline procedures are unconstitutional because they violate children’s right to an adequate education — is stayed pending appeals.
 
“When parents entrust us with their child, they expect that the very best educator will be in front [of] that child,” Deasy said. “Every day, students across the state have unfortunately been saddled with grossly ineffective teachers without recourse.”

— KPCC staff

Update 10:17 a.m. Calif. judge says state teacher protections unconstitutional

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Tuesday called California’s teacher job protections illegal, issuing a tentative ruling striking down three state laws that he said harm children’s ability to get an adequate education and granting an enormous win to the Silicon Valley entrepreneur who bankrolled the fight.

"All Challenged Statutes are found unconstitutional…" Judge Rolf Treu wrote. "Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the Challenged Statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or minority students."

In his 16-page ruling in Vergara v. California, Treu said that current laws granting teacher tenure after two years, mandating layoffs by seniority rather than effectiveness, and a complicated teacher firing process keep ineffective teachers on the job.

California’s constitution guarantees students will receive an adequate public education and Treu was swayed by arguments by education advocates Students Matter that those job protections kept grossly ineffective teachers on the job, harming kids’ educational prospects.

"The evidence was also clear that the churning aka (dance of the lemons) of teachers caused by the lack of effective dismissal statutes and LIFO [last in, first out hiring rules] affect high poverty and minority students disproportionately," Treu wrote. "This in turn greatly affects the stability of the learning process to the detriment of such students.”

RELATED: What do you think of the court's decision in Vergara v. California ...?

The ruling is tentative, but expected to be made final.

The California Teachers Association will appeal the decision, said Jim Finberg, a lawyer hired to represent the group during the trial.

"The decision will have no immediate effect," he said, "until the court of appeals makes a decision."

— Adolfo Guzman-Lopez

7:26 a.m. Calif. judge could change teacher job security

A judge plans to announce a decision Tuesday that could be a game changer for California teachers whose job security is on the line.

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Rolf Treu, whose ruling is due on Tuesday, heard two months of testimony in a lawsuit filed by students who claim the state's teacher tenure rules deprive them of a good education.

RELATED: The lawsuit's called Vergara, but the name you should know is Welch

The suit says the system, which allows only two years for evaluation before a teacher is hired permanently, makes it almost impossible to fire ineffective teachers.

Lawyers for the teachers object to proposed changes that they say will allow the firing of teachers on a whim. They argue the current system preserves academic freedom and helps attract talented teachers to a profession that doesn't pay well.

— The Associated Press