DENVER – In 2010, Colorado lawmakers passed a bold law that gave public schools the power to improve the quality of instruction in their classrooms by allowing them to fire problematic or unskilled teachers without cause, regardless of their tenure status.

It was a radical and brave departure from the old system, which made it nearly impossible to remove substandard teachers once they gained tenure. The so-called rights of school employees became the top priority in public education, while the right of students to have the best possible education was trampled on.

The new law made it clear that schools exists for students, period, and there is absolutely no room for teachers who fail to benefit students, under any circumstances.

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At least one school district – Denver Public Schools – took full advantage by dumping hundreds of full-time, tenured teachers, according to a report in Courthouse News.

The Denver district, by the way, has been getting strong reviews for its academic performance in recent years.

We shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the Denver Classroom Teachers, the union that represents the fired instructors, is challenging the statute with a class action lawsuit. The action is being supported by the Colorado Education Association, the local union’s parent organization.

The suit claims the new law “allows school officials to remove non-probationary teachers from their teaching positions and subsequently discharge them from employment without cause – i.e. without meeting the standards for dismissals or layoffs established by the Teacher Employment, Compensation and Dismissal Act, and without providing notice and an opportunity for a hearing, as required by TECDA.”

Union leaders say the new law has allowed the Denver district to fire many teachers who “are experienced educators with excellent professional records who had earned nonprobationary status under TECDA before they were discharged.”

The problem, of course, is that in many states in the past, teachers gained tenure (or nonprobationary status) pretty easily, with little in the way of professional evaluation. And once they had tenure, they were almost impossible to get rid of, regardless of their performance.

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The union is claiming that the fired teachers should have been grandfathered based on the loose old standards, and therefore pretty much guaranteed their jobs for life.

“Teachers who earned nonprobationary status before the enactment of SB 191 have vested, contractual rights not to be discharged unless TECDA’s substantive standards for dismissals and layoffs are met…” the lawsuit says.

“Thirty-six thousand teachers and education support staff today are taking action to keep quality teachers in all of our classrooms,” said a statement from Colorado Education Association President Kerrie Dallman.

That’s not true. The unions are taking action to protect the employment status of hundreds of veteran teachers, regardless of whether they deserve it. Remember, the unions exist to support their members, not to help guarantee quality instruction for students.

Public schools want and desperately need good teachers. They are not likely to fire excellent teachers for petty reasons. But on the other hand, they should not be forced to keep teachers who aren’t getting the job done, just because they’ve been around a long time.

The unions are in in for their members. The schools are in it for the students and their parents.

It will be interested to see who emerges victorious in this case – the special interests, or the people who are trying to provide a quality education for the children of Colorado.