Teachers: CA's Weakened Classroom Predator Bill Might Get Signed

The national education story of the week isn't the shutdown or the charter protests in NYC or anything else going on out East but rather the drama surrounding the much-delayed, much-weakened California law to speed the removal of sexual predators in the classroom that now awaits Governor Brown's decision. 

As EdSource Today explains, many administrator and advocacy groups are against the final version that was passed by the legislature, however teachers unions support it and it's being championed by a legislator who was among those who scuttled last year's much stronger version of the legislation.

Now that I've got your attention, here are some other recent stories about the drama:  Will Sexual Predator Teachers Hide Under California BillAB 375? (LA Weekly);  California school bills show teacherunion power (Sacto Bee); Bill to streamline teacher dismissals heads to governor; critics call it flawed (SJ Mercury News).

How about someone asking Randi Weingarten, Dennis Van Roekel, or Arne Duncan what their positions are on the legislation -- or whether they're going to intervene (as they seem willing to do in many other state and local issues)? How about StudentsFirst, Stand for Children (happy birthday, Jonah!) and DFER getting more active on the issue and letting lawmakers including Brown know that they're being watched. 

Comments

[CarolineSF]

EdSource Today's coverage, among others, has also made it clear that LAUSD (management) flamboyantly screwed up in failing to deal with reports of teacher sex abuse. So the bill that is actually needed would ban management cluelessness and incompetence.

[Alexander Russo]

Brown Facing Pressure to Veto 'Flawed' Teacher Dismissal Bill - LA School Report http://ht.ly/pFhrL

[Alexander Russo]

also -- from SF "SF also shared a change.org petition that was started by a San Diego StudentsFirst member with our membership and encouraged individuals to urge Governor Brown to veto the bill."

http://www.studentsfirst.org/page/speakout/california-needs-ab-375-vetoed

[CarolineSF]

That's interesting, because change.org was supposedly going to stop doing business with StudentsFirst due to its ultra-right, anti-union, pro-privatization philosophy, which is violently at odds with change.org's professed principles.

But money talks.