The Kansas Supreme Court is set to hear oral arguments Tuesday in a case that will determine whether a 2014 law stripping the state鈥檚 teachers of tenure protections is constitutional. The Kansas National Education Association is challenging the law on technical grounds, contending that the legislature passed the measure in a manner that evaded proper legislative review by attaching it to an omnibus education appropriations bill, House Bill 2506.
As Education Week鈥檚 , the legislature was in a tight spot due to another Kansas Supreme Court case, Gannon v. Kansas. In the waning days of the 2014 legislative session, lawmakers were facing a daunting deadline. If they didn鈥檛 pass a new funding bill that addressed the school-funding inequalities that the justices found in Gannon, the .
But HB2506 didn鈥檛 just include an extra $129 million in funding; it also and lowered licensing requirements for science, technology, engineering and mathematics teachers, as Stephen Sawchuk
鈥淚n enacting HB 2506, the Legislature 鈥榣ogrolled鈥� the Teacher Dismissal Provisions into an appropriations bill, thereby evading the legislative process and debate that would have taken place had those provisions been made to stand on their own in separate legislation,鈥� . 鈥淚ndeed, the last-minute insertion of the Teacher Dismissal Provisions into the bill short-circuited the normal legislative processes altogether, precluding any considered debate or deliberation on the provisions.鈥�
The KNEA argues that HB 2506 violates the state constitution鈥檚 鈥渙ne subject rule,鈥� which means that legislation may only deal with one main issue. A judge in district court rejected that argument last year and sided with the state.
Proponents of the legislation argue that HB 2506 didn鈥檛 prohibit individual districts from writing due-process provisions into their collective bargaining agreements. The majority of the state鈥檚 districts, however, have since decided to end teacher due process protections, .
Previously, Kansas鈥檚 teachers were granted due-process rights after three years in the classroom. Those rights entitled veteran teachers to a hearing if their district moved to fire them.
The legislature is now also considering repealing tenure protections for teachers at the state鈥檚 community and technical colleges,
In addition to this case, the KNEA is behind several lawsuits across the state contending that the 2014 bill鈥檚 retroactive nature is unconstitutional. Earlier this summer, that line of argument
These court battles are part of a larger national fight over whether teacher job-protections laws, as opponents argue, keep inept teachers in the classroom thus hurting students. , when a California appeals court reversed a trial court decision in the closely watched Vergara case that found that tenure protections were indeed shielding bad educators from dismissal. The appeals court鈥檚 decision was by the state鈥檚 supreme court.