Is teacher tenure unconstitutional?

A California judge just ruled it is in that state

The NY Times reports that two days ago a landmark decision finding public school teacher tenure unconstitutional was handed down in the Los Angeles Superior Court room of Judge Rolf M. Treu. The suit was brought by a group of student plaintiffs who are backed by a Silicon Valley millionaire. The students said tenure laws deprived them of a decent education because bad teachers were left in place.

In a move likely to turn organized teachers strongly against the administration, the decision in the case – Vergara v. California – was enthusiastically endorsed by US Education Secretary Arne Duncan.

Judge Treu said:

“Substantial evidence presented makes it clear to this court that the challenged statutes disproportionately affect poor and/or minority students. The evidence is compelling. Indeed, it shocks the conscience.” It will take some research to see if Kentucky’s constitution would support a similar tenure challenge in the Bluegrass State.

Also, in part due to union influence, unlike California, Kentucky currently lacks an effective and public teacher evaluation system (teacher ratings in California are published in the media). This makes it difficult to determine how serious the problem of bad tenured teachers is in the commonwealth.

There is cause for concern about teacher performance when Kentucky’s white students only outscored whites in one other state and whites in 42 states (including California) outscored ours on the National Assessment of Educational Progress 8th Grade Math Assessment in 2013.

NAEP Comparison Map G8 Math