Courts and Teachers: Are Vergara and Wright Steps Forward or Missteps?

COURTS, TEACHERS, AND STUDENT RIGHTS:

Are Vergara, Davids, and Wright

Steps Forward or Missteps?

Teachers College, Columbia University will host a national conference on December 3, 2014 that will focus on the Vergara, Davids, and Wright cases, which concern
the impact of teacher tenure on low‑income and minority students. Each panel will include both supporters and critics of the Vergara/Wright approach.

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

2:00–3:45 pm · Panel I: Something to Cheer or Something to Fear?

Panelists will discuss Vergara decision and Wright lawsuit, which has confounded traditional partisan and ideological alignments.

Moderator

michael rebell

Professor of Law and Educational Practice, Teachers College and Columbia Law School.

Panelists

devora allon

A litigation partner in the New York City office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and is a member of the firm’s legal team that is representing the plaintiffs in Wright v. State of New York.

richard casagrande

General Counsel of New York State United Teachers (NYSUT), which has intervened as a defendant in both the Davids and Wright cases.

3:45–4:00 pm · coffee break

4:00–5:30 pm · Panel II: Relevant Evidence on Teaching and Learning

How do we improve the quality of teaching in schools serving low achievers? This panel will consider the Vergara case in light of not only tenure, but also teacher preparation, the unequal distribution of strong teachers, inadequate and inequitable education funding, and segregation of students by race, income, and language.

Moderator

jeffrey henig

EPSA Department Chair, Teachers College, Columbia University

Panelists

eric hanushek

Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, Stanford University

Susan Moore johnson

Jerome T. Murphy Research Professor in Education, Harvard Graduate School of Education

5:30–6:00 pm · wine and cheese reception

6:00–6:15 PM · lead parent—plaintiff in Davids v. State of New York

There will be a brief comment and discussion session with parent-plaintiff Mona Davids.

mona davids

President, New York City Parents Union

6:15–7:45 pm · Are Courts the Proper Venues for Resolving These Issues?

Another issue concerns the role of courts in determining policy and practice on such matters as teacher tenure, dismissal, and due process, which are more commonly the product of the political process, including state legislation, school-board policy, and collective bargaining. What is the appropriate role of courts as a venue for resolving complicated social issues—issues in which evidence is mixed and evolving, and where competing and deeply-held values are in play?

Remarks

elana sigall

New York State’s Deputy Secretary for Education; Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Education Policy and Social Analysis at Teachers College

Moderator

Jay P. Heubert

Professor of Law and Education at Teachers College, Adjunct Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, co-chair of the Teachers College School Law Institute

Panelists

michael rebell

Professor of Law and Educational Practice, Teachers College and Columbia Law School

joshua dunn

Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Colorado-Colorado Springs

kevin welner

Professor, Educational Foundations, Policy & Practice, University of Colorado, Boulder School of Education

Teachers College, Columbia University
Milbank Chapel
525 West 120th Street
(Between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue)