The Latest: Appeal planned in California teacher tenure case

LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Latest on an appeals court’s decision in a landmark California teacher tenure case. (all times local):

4:25 p.m.

An attorney says he’s planning to appeal a California appeals court decision to reverse a judge’s ruling that found teacher tenure deprived students of a good education.

Attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr. says in a statement Thursday that the 2nd District Court of Appeal’s ruling is a “temporary setback” and expects to appeal the decision to the California Supreme Court.

He argues that teacher tenure amounts to “egregious constitutional violations” of students.

A three-judge panel of the appeals court says the nine students who sued over teacher tenure did not show that state statutes caused some students to receive a worse education than others.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge had found tenure and four others provisions of the state education code unconstitutional because particularly poor and minority students were deprived of a good education.

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3:50 p.m.

A California appeals court has handed teacher unions a big victory by reversing a judge’s ruling that found tenure deprived students of a good education.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that the plaintiffs failed to show that job protection for teachers was unconstitutional.

The three-judge panel says the nine students who sued did not show that state statutes caused some students to receive a worse education than others.

The court says the law may lead to hiring and retaining more ineffective teachers but says it’s ultimately up to administrators to assign teachers.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge had found tenure and four others provisions of the state education code unconstitutional because particularly poor and minority students were deprived of a good education.