SACRAMENTO – Perhaps the attorneys for the state of California and several teachers unions figured things weren’t going their way in the closely-watched Los Angeles tenure trial.

That may explain why they offered a motion this week, halfway through the trial, to have the judge dismiss the lawsuit based on a lack of evidence.

The judge said no, meaning this critical challenge to several California state laws that protect sub-par teachers will go on.

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The lawsuit, filed on behalf of several Los Angeles students, is challenging a state law that requires public schools to either grant or deny teachers tenure status (and the job security that comes with it) after only 18 months on the job. It also challenges three laws that make it difficult and expensive to fire tenured teachers, and another that allows schools to lay off teachers based on seniority rather than skill.

The students claim the laws in question result in the presence of too many incompetent teachers in public school classrooms, particularly in economically depressed neighborhoods, violating their right to a quality public education.

“These five statutes are violating the rights of California public school students each and every day,” Theodore Boutrous, an attorney for the plaintiffs, argued in court this week. “They inevitably put and keep grossly ineffective teachers in the classroom in front of students.”

After four weeks of testimony, lawyers for the state and several teachers unions tried to convince the judge Tuesday to dismiss the suit because the plaintiffs had failed to prove their case.

As the Reuters news service put it, “(The defense attorneys) argued that the plaintiffs did not meet the legal standards for showing the statutes were so flawed as to be found unconstitutional and struck down by the court. The ill effects cited by the plaintiffs were anecdotal, isolated and the result of poor management decisions (at individual schools), the defendants said.”

The judge in the case responded by saying that “the court finds there is sufficient evidence, credible evidence to move forward with the trial to allow the interveners and defendants to present their evidence, and we’re anxious to hear from them on those issues that have been raised.”

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That has to be considered good news for the student plaintiffs. They have already presented their case in court, and the judge found their claims legitimate enough to demand an explanation from the defense.

We’re guessing that the defense attorneys sense that the trial is not going well for them, and tried to have the case dismissed as a preemptive measure.

Despite their pleas, the court is determined to hear the argument in full and address the students’ complaints.

A lot rides on the outcome of this case, even though the final verdict will almost certainly be appealed. If the students manage to win in this ridiculously union-friendly state, education reformers elsewhere may be emboldened to file similar lawsuits.

State by state, the practice of protecting incompetent teachers could be shot down by courts. That couldn’t happen one moment too soon.