California Supreme Court upholds teachers' tenure.

Monday marked a victory for teachers all over California—as the California Supreme Court came to a landmark decision that overturned a 2014 ruling, meaning California public school teachers can keep tenure and other job protections.

The four-year long lawsuit, Vergara vs. California, was filed by nine students and backed by Students Matters, a nonprofit funded by David Welch, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur.

The suit claimed that several statutes on education were too lax, such as giving tenure after only two years of teaching, which they argued kept ineffective teachers in the classroom. The plaintiffs’ attorneys claimed these laws assigned the ineffective teachers to poor and minority students.

In 2012, the lawsuit was filed and heard at the Los Angeles Superior Court, where a judge ruled in favor of the students. In April, a three-judge Court of Appeals in Los Angeles reversed the previous ruling, and the students then asked the California Supreme Court to reconsider the case.

On Monday, the Supreme Court declined to hear the Vergara case, which means that the decision by the Court of Appeals decision in April was upheld.

The case was watched closely by teachers all over the country—and right here in Monterey County—as their job security was in question.

“Essentially, the case was focused on tenure, and it unfortunately was a distractor from the real needs of California public schools, which is funding,” says Katherine Bassler, president of Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers.

California is currently ranked last (50th) in the U.S. for student-to-teacher ratios and would need 100,000 more teachers to bring the ratio to the national average, according to the California Teachers Association. Threatening job security only worsens the severe teacher shortage in the region and makes it difficult retain teachers, Bassler continues.

According to Bassler, in the last two years, a regional housing shortage and high cost of health care in Monterey County have already made it difficult for teachers to stay in the area.

Monterey County Superintendent Nancy Kotowski says she sees both sides of the Vergara case. She acknowledges that there is a critical shortage of teachers, but she also believes the teacher deficit along with the existing statute requiring only two years until tenure can leave new teachers without sufficient mentorship and minimal preparation.