Court Enjoins Layoffs at Three Los Angeles Unified Schools, Upholding Students’ Right to Equal Educational Opportunity Despite State’s Budget Crisis

Teacher layoffs stemming from state-wide budget cuts in three Los Angeles middle schools were enjoined last week by the Superior Court Judge presiding over Reed v. State of California, a class-action lawsuit brought against the state and the district by students at Gompers, Liechty and Markham Middle Schools. The Court held that the seniority-order layoffs implemented by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) had a disparate negative impact on students at these schools. Although state statutes and local collective bargaining agreements required seniority-order lay-offs, Judge William F. Highberger held that the school district “ could not bargain away students’ constitutional rights.”

Due to seniority rules, commonly known as the “last hired-first fired” system, Gompers, Liechty and Markham lost between 50-72% of their teachers before the 2009-2010 school year began, compared to 10% in other, more affluent schools. What’s more, the three schools, which primarily serve students of color and students from poverty backgrounds, had recently undertaken successful efforts to recruit, train and retain young teachers. Long-term substitutes and permanent teachers from the rehire pool, including many who lacked subject area competency and experience working with students in their assigned grade levels, subsequently filled vacancies.

Evidence in the case showed that students in many classes were forced to endure rotating short-term substitutes, some having up to ten short-term substitutes in a single semester. The court found that “The rotation of substitute teachers made maintenance of coherent lesson plans and student records impossible.” The extensive teacher turnover resulted in students missing instruction on key topics in core academic subjects. Examples cited by the court included a U.S. History class in which students did not learn about the Articles of Confederation until December, by which time the pacing guide indicated that the students should be covering events in the following century; furthermore, in some science classes, the teachers simply skipped lab experiments.

In issuing the preliminary injunction, Judge Highberger relied heavily on testimony by Professors Linda Darling-Hammond and Michelle Fine. These experts stated that the layoffs and concomitant high turnover in staff engender “serious problems that negatively affect educational opportunity,” and cause “educational disruption.” The court agreed that these experiences did impose severe harm upon students, and held that “Plaintiffs cannot get a ‘do over’ of lost educational opportunity.” Applying a strict scrutiny analysis because education is a fundamental right under the California constitution, the court held that defendants could not show that the layoffs serve any compelling state interest, and that upon a full trial, plaintiffs are likely to be able to show that defendants’ actions violate the students’ right to an equal educational opportunity.

Defendants had argued that honoring collective bargaining agreements with the United Los Angeles Teachers Union and teachers’ property interests in their jobs and in the seniority system constituted a compelling state interest. The court, however, rejected these arguments and held that “teachers do not have a vested interest in the application of seniority in a layoff that will result in an equal protection violation and a school district does not have discretion to violate students’ fundamental right to equal educational opportunity. “

In issuing the preliminary remedy, Judge Highberger also acknowledged that LAUSD may have to reallocate layoffs to other schools in order to ensure that plaintiffs’ staffs remain intact. In this case, the ruling explains that this necessity is justified, as the constitutional harm to students outweighs any injury to more experienced teachers who may be laid off instead.

Despite the fact that the state of California, the state board of education, and the LAUSD were all named as defendants in the case, Governor Schwarzenegger, the state board, LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines, and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa all issued statement of support for the Reed plaintiffs. With the preliminary injunction granted, the Court will now proceed to review plaintiffs' requests for permanent relief.

According to a new report issued by the Center on Reinventing Public Education, seniority-based layoffs are disproportionately more likely to negatively impact schools that, like Gompers, Markham and Liechty, serve high concentrations of children of color and students from poverty backgrounds.