FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Friday, July 17, 2015

Teacher evaluation lawsuit Doe v Antioch is the latest in a series of special interest attacks on public education

CFT Statement:

The Doe v Antioch lawsuit filed yesterday is just another in a long line of cynical attacks on public education. This lawsuit, which addresses a tenant of teacher evaluation, attempts to dictate from the courtroom a top down reform agenda that has been discredited by research and the experience of educators across the country. The 13 districts named in this lawsuit have negotiated teacher evaluation systems that work for them. The facts of this case will be made clear in the coming months, but what’s immediately clear is that this is another desperate attempt by a Silicon Valley billionaire trying to destroy public education.

The California Stull Act has been around since the early 1970s. Our state’s K-12 public education system was considered the finest in the nation with the Stull Act in place, shaping how teachers were evaluated. So what has changed? In spite of the improved financial situation due to Prop 30, our schools and classes are still overcrowded, the enrichment classes that used to be a staple of education have been pushed out and the hyper fixation on testing drives a distorted education agenda. Finally, we have a so-called advocacy group that is funded by billionaires and a law firm that does the bidding of corporate America and the 1% pushing a destructive education agenda. Their deep pockets and arrogance threaten every child and educator working hard to make education meaningful in our state.

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The CFT represents over 25,000 faculty in thirty community college districts, and 120,000 educational employees at every level of the education system, from Head Start to UC. More info: www.cft.org.