Legal News

Judge halts layoffs at three L.A. schools

By Richard Binder

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Highberger issued an injunction yesterday preventing layoffs for budgetary reasons at Samuel Gompers, Edwin Markham, and John H. Liechty schools.

The ACLU and other civil rights groups had filed suit in February, claiming that students at those schools were being denied their legal right to an education due to the high level of layoffs.  Schools in more affluent areas, according to the suit, had far fewer faculty dismissals.

The suit also alleged that policies governing teacher layoffs led to those layoffs, and Highberger agreed that seniority was not the only factor in "maintaining or achieving compliance with constitutional requirements related to equal protection of the laws."

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa both threw their support behind the lawsuit.

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Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on May 13, 2010 (boomark / email).