Experts discuss implications of Vergara v. California


Political experts from both sides of the much-debated Vergara v. California met  on Sunday for “Life After Vergara: The Future of California’s Public Schools” on Sunday, an educational summit focused on the case’s implications and next steps.

The event was co-hosted by the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, the Rossier School of Education, the Los Angeles Unified School District and KLCS public radio. Panelists focused on the need to improve California’s public education system, although they often disagreed on how this should be achieved.

In Vergara v. California, nine public school children, under the guidance of Students Matter, sued the state of California with the premise that the laws directing hiring and firing practices for public school teachers left some students with an inherent educational disadvantage. The state’s Superior Court struck down several of these laws, including the “Last-In, First-Out” layoff stature, which allows districts to base layoffs on seniority, without considering actual teacher performance, and the Permanent Employment statue under which districts can grant teachers tenure after less than two years.

A new USC Dornsife-Los Angeles Times poll revealed that the majority of California voters reject tenure and seniority based layoffs for public school teachers. Union advocates and others fear that the case will dissuade potential teachers from the field, however. The decision was appealed by attorneys representing the State of California.

Dan Schnur, executive director of the Unruh Institute, moderated the panels. The event’s first panel specifically focused on the case’s legal implications and next steps. The side of the plaintiffs, or the students, was represented by Hillary Moglen, principal of the issue advocacy firm RALLY and students’ advocate who helped organize the plaintiffs for the case. On the other side of the debate was Glenn Rothner, an attorney who worked closely with the California Teachers Association during the trial. Howard Blume, primary education reporter at the Los Angeles Times, provided additional, unbiased contributions to the discussion.

After a brief overview of the case by Blume, Moglen and Rothner launched into a lively debate. One of Rothner’s main concerns with the results of the case was the fact that it was based on the faults of just a small number of teachers.

“Vergara focuses on a very small subset of teachers, but beats that drum nationwide … it’s warning potential teachers job [that] security isn’t what it used to be; [that] there may no longer be tenure, and seniority … so people are now questioning whether this is a profession for them,” Rothner said.

Moglen responded by arguing that many teachers actually agreed with the elimination of tenure, saying “people want to be rewarded and encouraged for the work that they do everyday, not just for how long they’ve been doing it.”

The second panel focused on the case’s political and legislative implications and next steps. The panel included Ben Austin, the head of policy development and advocacy for Students Matter, the organization which helped represent plaintiffs in the Vergara case. Doug Herman, a political strategist of the Strategy Group, provided additional insight. Drew Lieberman, the vice president of Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research and lead pollster for the poll involving the Vergara case, also contributed.

While the first panel included a lively debate, the second panel served to explain the public’s perception of the debate. Lieberman explained the recent poll, while Herman discussed strategy and Austin described the background of Students Matter.

After each panel, the discussion was opened to questions from the audience and community members, including pre-recorded video questions provided by KLCS.

Though educational leaders and policymakers have their work cut out for them following the Vergara case, panelists seemed to agree that improving the quality of public education is a paramount issue.

“We all agree that we ought to do everything we possibly can to support and train the teachers to do the best jobs they possibly can. We all want the same things, for public schools and the children who attend these schools, so we’re all ultimately on the same side,” Schnur said.

Correction: A previous version of this story stated that Hillary Moglen is is the president of RALLY public affairs. She is actually the principal of the issue advocacy firm RALLY. The Daily Trojan regrets the error.