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A bill that would reform the dismissal appeal process for certificated employees is being sent to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature after being passed unanimously by the State Assembly last Thursday.

AB 215, co-authored by State A

Assemblywoman Joan Buchanan, whose district covers Pleasanton, was also unanimously passed by the State Senate on Monday.

“All parents should have confidence that their child’s school is a safe and nurturing environment. AB 215 will create a streamlined and fair process for dismissing school personnel charged with egregious misconduct. It will protect our children while maintaining important due process rights for educators,” said co-author State Senator Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima).

According to Buchanan, the current dismissal appeal process takes too long and requires too much money.

“The only ones that benefit are attorneys,” she added.

“AB 215 protects children by expediting the dismissal process of teachers who engage in egregious misconduct, such as child abuse, sexual abuse, and certain drug crimes,” said Assemblywoman Kristin Olsen (R-Modesto), principal co-author of the bill and vice chair of the Assembly Education Committee.

“It also improves a school’s ability to remove ineffective teachers by streamlining the dismissal appeal process for poor performance and reducing the time to commence the hearing to just six months,” she added. “After years of trying, this is a positive step toward education reforms that are good for students, parents, and teachers, and I am really pleased that this measure received such a wide range of support.”

Supporters of the bill include the California Teachers Association, EdVoice, California State PTA, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, Students First, Crime Victims United, Child Abuse Prevention Council, California Federation of Teachers and the California Labor Federation.

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2 Comments

  1. This is going to be fun. People aren’t going to know what vitriol to post. “Ha! Let’s get those horrible, abusive, lazy, selfish, rotten teaches! It’s about time that there be legislation passed that…wait…what? It’s supported by who? It’s backed by CTA, CFT and CLF?!? But those are UNIONS! Well then, it must be horrible legislation! I’m sure Governor Moonbeam is going to pass it right on through! We have to rise up and fight to…uh…wait…am I for or against this?”

  3. I heard Jerry Brown speak while between gigs as Mayor and Governor. He said the key to fixing the schools was holding the principals accountable, and giving them the power to fire bad teachers. I don’t know if this legislation is written to that end, but yes, I’d expect him to sign it…

  4. Please don’t confuse this bill with the court finding this past week concerning the tenure process and subsequent firing of teachers. This bill, which by itself is a step in the right direction, makes it easier to fire teachers accused of misconduct that relates to schools and kids – abuse, drugs, sex. The fact that is was difficult and expensive for a school district to fire a teacher convicted of these types of crimes was a crime in itself.

  6. Yes, Registered Joe, we certainly don’t want to give teachers the right to a presumption of innocence until (if) found guilty. How American THAT would be.

    And, yes, let’s not confuse this with the joke of a ruling of a few days ago which will be promptly overturned by a rational court.

  7. AB 215 is too little, too late.

    All the racist laws masquerading as “teacher due process protection” have been thrown out in “Vergara v California”. The ruling will be upheld by all state and federal courts for the same reason that Brown v Board of Education will never be overturned.

  8. A teacher accused of one of the crimes handled by this bill still has to go through the criminal courts. This bill enables a school district to fire the teacher sooner, and places the responsibility for that firing decision into the hands of an administrative law judge. The process completes in seven months, vs. the years that it can take now.

    One of the loopholes that AB215 closes is the ability of a school district to strike a deal with a teacher which expunges the record after some period
    of time. The teacher could go on to a different, unsuspecting district.

    The court that made the decision in the teacher tenure case also, at the same time, held up its implementation until the state attorney general can decide whether or not to appeal. Don’t lose sight of what an appeal means. An appeal is made when a party to the case believes that the issuing court made a judicial error. You can appeal any decision, but can’t successfully appeal unless an error is found. You can’t do it and expect to win just because you don’t like the decision.

  10. I agree with registered Joe. I like the thought of a administrative law judge ruling on the termination based on the evidence presented at the administrative law judge hearing. The key is, the terminating supervisor/manager must present the case and the evidence. These days in regular employment termination cases, the defendant appeals the termination which goes to the administrative law judge hearing. Often, the terminating supervisor/manager does not show up at the hearing and the defendant wins by default.

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