Giving every child the same chance to succeed: it's not only our moral duty, but our legal one as well.
Our state constitution guarantees every child the fundamental right to a quality education. It forbids discrimination among schools or school districts, and ensures that every student has equal access to the resources they need to achieve their potential.
Sadly, students at many Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) schools are being deprived of their most important resource--their teachers.
At Gompers, John Liechty, and Markham Middle School students' rights are being violated by an outdated teacher layoff system that disproportionately affects some schools with mostly low-income African American and Latino children.
That's why the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools and I approached the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) about doing something to change the current layoff system. Working from the belief that every student has the right to a stable staff of quality professionals who understand their unique needs, the ACLU and Public Counsel, on behalf of parents of students at Gompers, Liechty, and Markham, filed a lawsuit (Reed v. Smith) challenging the way layoffs are implemented at these schools.
The lawsuit argues that these students have had their constitutional rights violated by a system that has disproportionately laid off teachers at their schools, and as a result they have significantly fewer resources than their fellow students at other LAUSD schools.
You might be asking: isn't everyone feeling the effects of the economic situation? Why is this different? And the answer is yes, everyone is feeling the effects of the economy, but the innocent students at Gompers, Liechty, and Markham have been hit disproportionately hard by these layoffs. Some schools have lost over 60% of their teachers in a single year!
The students attending these schools live in high-poverty communities with even higher crime rates. For these children, school is often the most stable place in their lives, and a place where the trusting relationships they develop with their teachers form a critical part of their emotional and educational development.
So when a student comes to school and their favorite teacher is no longer there, with no reasonable explanation why, that child feels abandoned. When high-needs schools are in constant flux, continuous improvement and student achievement become almost impossible. And when schools can't provide children with a stable, secure environment, the entire school community loses--consistency gives way to uncertainty; practices break down; cultural stability crumbles; and relationships end.
Our neediest children deserve better. We cannot continue tearing apart our lowest-performing schools year after year and expect the students to excel. It is preposterous and just plain wrong when a budget decision means children in some schools lose two-thirds of their teachers, while children in other schools get to keep all their teachers and continue learning in stable environments.
As a temporary solution to this crisis, the plaintiffs have sought a preliminary injunction that would delay all teacher layoffs at the three schools included in the suit. Today, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Highberger is expected to issue a ruling on these injunctions. My hope is that he will grant the injunctions and, at least for now, save these students from more uncertainty, instability, and inequity in their classrooms.
Going forward, we must all work together to permanently stop this system of layoffs that only hurts students and teachers. It's time to invest in every student, and to stop failing the ones who need us most.