Law making it harder for teachers to earn tenure ruled constitutional

A law making it easier to fire tenured teachers and more difficult for new teachers to earn tenure has been ruled constitutional by the Louisiana Supreme Court, reversing an earlier ruling by a Baton Rouge district judge.

The Supreme Court’s ruling was a victory for Gov. Bobby Jindal since the tenure law, referred to as Act 1, was part of the sweeping education reform he ushered through in 2012.

“Act 1 was created to help ensure we have a great teacher in every classroom, and we’re pleased that it will continue improving Louisiana schools for children and families across our state,” Jindal said in a statement.

After Act 1 passed in 2012, it was found unconstitutional twice before the Supreme Court’s recent ruling.

Under Act 1, teachers would have to be rated as “highly effective” for five out of six years to earn tenure.

Teachers who are rated “ineffective” would lose tenure and could face dismissal proceedings.

Half of a teacher’s annual review is also tied to student performance.

Currently, 76 percent of teachers at St. Charles Parish Public Schools are tenured, which marks them as permanent employees.

Act 1 also requires school boards to set performance goals for superintendents and says that seniority or tenure can’t be used as the primary criteria when hiring, assigning or dismissing teachers and other school employees.

Additionally, it requires that the superintendent, not the school board, has the primary responsibility for personnel decisions, which does not sit well with some St. Charles Parish School Board members.

“The current law, as it was enacted, says that the teachers (who are being fired) are not entitled to a hearing before a board,” John Smith, St. Charles Parish School Board member, said. “The superintendent would appoint a tribunal to hear a complaint. That goes against the democratic process that the person who is requesting your termination is also the one responsible for appointing the board to oversee your case.”

School Board president John “Jay” Robichaux agreed.

“I don’t think it’s fair to the employee because they don’t get as much representation,” he said. “That’s why the school board was there to hear both sides of the issue.”

However, Robichaux said the school system already began preparations to comply with Act 1 since its introduction two years ago.

“We feel pretty good about where we sit in regards to Act 1,” he said.