NEW ORLEANS (AP) - At least one of two state district court rulings declaring changes to the state teacher tenure law unconstitutional will have to be reconsidered, the state Supreme Court has ruled.
The court concluded the Attorney General’s Office wasn’t given enough advance notice about a hearing in Monroe in August that led to a ruling against the tenure changes, approved by the legislature in 2012.
The high court, in an opinion dated Friday, sent the case back to Monroe-based Judge Benjamin Jones for further proceedings, giving the attorney general another chance to participate. Friday’s opinion said it appears that Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s office received notice on Aug. 1, just four days before the hearing.
“At that time, the district court allowed the attorney general’s office thirty days to notify the court whether it intended to participate,” the high court’s opinion said. “However, the district court proceeded to try the matter on August 5, 2013, before this thirty-day period elapsed.”
A Baton Rouge judge also has ruled against the 2012 education overhaul that included the tenure changes. Judge Michael Caldwell last week said the legislation unconstitutionally bundled together too many items spanning Louisiana’s education laws.
Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration quickly announced plans to appeal in that case.
The Monroe and Baton Rouge rulings both dealt with the 2012 law commonly known as Act 1, a sweeping change in teacher job protections and school board powers that was strongly pushed by Jindal.
In the Monroe case, a teacher facing possible dismissal filed suit, leading to Jones’ ruling that the termination process outlined in the law violated the teacher’s constitutional rights. Jones cited a process that included possible termination without a hearing and an appeal to a panel of three people, two of whom would be chosen by the school system superintendent and the principal who likely had recommended her dismissal. Jones also found fault with limits the law placed on court reviews of terminations.
The high court did not comment on the merits of Jones’ ruling in its call for new proceedings.
Caldwell’s more recent ruling said all of Act 1 was unconstitutional because the legislation violates the state constitution’s “single object” requirement.
The law limited local school boards’ authority over hiring and firing decisions, made it harder for teachers to reach the job protection of tenure and eliminated statewide teacher pay scales. It also removed seniority-based protections for teachers during layoffs.
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