Campbell Brown’s war on teacher tenure lost another battle in court. Her group, the Partnership for Educational Justice, lost the Vergara case in California; its case in Minnesota was thrown out. Now New Jersey.
From the Education Law Center:
December 12, 2018
• CHALLENGE TO TEACHER TENURE IN NEW JERSEY FAILS AGAIN
NEW JERSEY SUPREME COURT ENDS CHALLENGE TO TENURE LAWS
The New Jersey Supreme Court has declined to review an appeals court ruling dismissing a lawsuit seeking invalidation of tenure and due process rules for the state’s teachers.
The plaintiffs in the case, H.G. v. Harrington, are several Newark Public Schools (NPS) students and parents. The plaintiffs were supported by the Partnership for Educational Justice, a group formed by former television news anchor Campbell Brown, who is behind similar lawsuits about teacher tenure laws in Minnesota and New York.
The plaintiffs challenged the statutory rule mandating that “reduction in force” (RIF) decisions be based exclusively on seniority, claiming that the rule deprives students of a “thorough and efficient” education by reducing teacher quality. The plaintiffs filed the case despite admitting there was no evidence that the seniority rule actually resulted in the retention of ineffective tenured teachers at the expense of losing effective tenured teachers.
Because plaintiffs presented no evidence of any actual impact of the seniority rule on the teaching force in Newark, a trial court dismissed the case in May 2017, holding that the case was not ripe for review. The appellate court affirmed that decision in June 2018. The appellate court noted that not only did the plaintiffs concede there was no evidence of any negative impact of the seniority rule, they also admitted NPS had significantly reduced the number of tenured teachers rated ineffective or partially effective.
Despite these decisive rulings, the plaintiffs sought certification to appeal to the New Jersey Supreme Court. On December 3, the Supreme Court denied the request and ruled that the plaintiffs must pay for the cost of filing the appeal request.
This decision is another court defeat for so called “education reform” groups seeking to attack due process for teachers. Courts in California and Minnesota also rejected legal attacks on teacher tenure in those states.
Education Law Center Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Policy and Outreach Director
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 24
http://www.edlawcenter.org
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yay! Proud to be from NJ today.
LikeLike
Thank goodness! Just another way to diminish the teaching profession.
LikeLike
I thought there was a huge teacher shortage. Where is this ‘reduction in force’ actually displacing large swaths of new qualified teachers that is so problematic?
LikeLiked by 1 person
From Bob Braun’s Ledger Facebook site: quote – NJ SUPREME COURT refused to hear a case that could have eviscerated what is left of teacher tenure by removing seniority as a consideration in the layoffs of tenured instructors. Ostensibly brought by a group of parents who alleged their children’s constitutional; rights were denied by tenure, the litigation was part of a national effort–funded by anti-union advocates–to weaken tenure laws. Although the state (under Gov. Chris Christie) was the nominal defendant, the case bordered on the collusive–the commissioner and Newark school superintendent Christopher Cerf agreed with the plaintiffs. Only the intervention of the Newark Teachers Union and the New Jersey Education Association (NJEA) as defendants made it anything like a true legal controversy. The trial court dismissed the case on the grounds of “ripeness” and was upheld by the appellate division. In legalese, ripeness means the plaintiffs failed to show the plaintiffs faced any real, provable harm to back up their allegations. The damage was “speculative,” the appeals court ruled–and the state’s highest court declined to review the case. NTU President John Abeigon (pictured) said the decision was a major victory for teachers–and it was. Newark’s school children still await the day when the courts move to end racial segregation and isolation in schools, underfunding, and the diversion of scarce resources to privatized charter schools. end quote
These privatizers will stop at nothing to reduce teachers to quavering serfs, Janus was not good enough for them so they keep trying to chip away at what’s left of teacher protections. Two NJ teachers are suing their unions and the NJEA because of union dues; one of the teachers is earning over $86k, thanks to the unions.
Have they no shame at long last.
LikeLike
More at https://www.facebook.com/bobbraunsledger/
LikeLike
Isn’t it great to feel that the system is working well? We need more of this.
LikeLike
I wish Campbell Brown nothing but continuing failure.
LikeLike
She is in charge of Facebook partnerships or integrity or something.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Then I wish her abject failure there as well! (And thanks, Diane.)
LikeLike
Campbell Brown is a woman scorned and now we will see more anti teacher articles on the 74! Gotta love it and the joy of victory is so satisfying knowing that people like Brown have egg in their face.
LikeLike
Challenging due process in court never made any sense, especially supported by no evidence. Seriously, it’s challenging the idea of fairness in a fairness judging room.
LikeLike
Courtrooms are not “fairness judging rooms”. They are “law judging rooms” in which the vast majority of cases are determinations of law and have nothing to do with fairness or justice.
LikeLike
True, so to put it another way, it’s challenging due process in a room for providing due process of law.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Brilliant.
LikeLike
I remember the Florida judge who ruled that it was ok to evaluate teachers based on the scores of students they never taught, in subjects they don’t teach. He said, “It may not be fair, but it’s legal.” Stupid is not illegal.
LikeLiked by 2 people
and we then look at who WROTE the law….
LikeLike
Oh, stupid is legal. Just look at the current occupant of the White House.
LikeLike