PARTNERSHIP ISSUES STATEMENT ON JUDGE HIGHBERGER’S RULING IN REED V. THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

Turning back to great news from a judge in California, Superior Court Judge William Highberger affirmed and expanded (from 3 schools to 45 schools) his earlier decision, preventing layoffs in LA purely by seniority because of the disproportionate impact on low-income kids:

 

The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools and Mayor Villaraigosa began the process of addressing the inequities of budget-based layoffs in the spring of 2009 when it first became apparent scheduled lay-offs would devastate the staffs at Gompers and Markham Middle Schools.  The Partnership and Mayor initially approached the school district seeking relief, but no solution was found.  The Partnership and Mayor then asked the ACLU to get involved and after months of weekly meetings and research, the suit was filed in February of 2010.  On May 12 of that same year, Superior Court Judge William Highberger issued an injunction barring any further lay-offs at the three named schools until the suit was resolved.  Today's settlement expands that initial ruling to include 45 LAUSD schools that will now be protected from grossly disproportionate budget-based layoffs.

 

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