Legal News

LAUSD sued over teacher layoffs

By Richard Binder

The ACLU and other civil rights lawyers have filed suit against the state and Los Angeles Unified School District on behalf of three middle-school students, alleging that budget cuts and teacher layoffs have infringed on their equal rights to an education.

Layoffs have hit Gompers, Liechty and Markham middle schools harder than most due to state laws that require districts to let go of teachers based on seniority during tough budget times. Attorneys for the students, who include the ACLU of Southern California, the Public Counsel Law Center and the law firm of Morrison & Foerster LLP, said California law allows districts to circumvent the seniority rule on the basis of need or if cuts disproportionately affect certain groups.

In order to balance the budget, district officials estimate that they could lay off some 5,000 workers, including about 1,000 teachers.This suit would require the district to lay off teachers at the schools in question at the same or lower levels than at any other campus in the district. 

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on February 25, 2010 (boomark / email).