Search

The article presents information on U.S. court case Vergara v. California, which focuses on the job protections of teachers in California. The author looks at the Los Angeles County Superior Court lawsuit, California Governor Jerry Brown, state Superintendent Tom Torlakson, and the California state education department. The article also discusses teacher-evaluation systems, teacher tenure, and the equal-protection rights of students.

The article reports that states in the United States are debating how value added data regarding teachers can be used in schools. Some states, like Tennessee, permit the use of this data for teacher evaluation while others, like California, prevent the data from being used for teacher pay, evaluation, or personnel decisions.

The article discusses the teacher evaluation system in the Lucia Mar school district in California called the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP) school reform initiative. The author comments on the program's inclusion of a mentoring system and a performance-based pay incentive. Topics include superintendent Jim Hogeboom's application for a federal Teacher Incentive Fund (TIF) grant and the relationship between Hogeboom and Lucia Mar Unified Teachers Association president Lloyd Walzer.

The article reports that the advocacy group Students Matter has brought a lawsuit against several school districts in California challenging collective bargaining agreements with teachers that specify that student test scores may not be used in teacher evaluations, and cites California law.