Texas AFT has won a major legal victory in a case brought before the commissioner of education by our Alliance/AFT local challenging the termination of a Dallas ISD teacher at a campus undergoing reconstitution.

 

The district had terminated the term contract of veteran math teacher Sharon Toussaint, an Alliance/AFT member at a campus that was subject to mandatory reconstitution because of unacceptable accountability ratings for two consecutive years.  State law dictates that a teacher in a core subject at a campus undergoing reconstitution cannot be retained at that campus unless there has been a demonstrated pattern of improved performance by that teacher's students.  But Dallas ISD went beyond anything required by the state law, which allows teachers to be reassigned elsewhere if they are not retained at the reconstituted campus.

 

The Dallas ISD school board overrode the findings of an independent hearing examiner in favor of Toussaint and blamed her for her students' low test scores, discounting evidence that other factors in the school environment--poor student discipline, misguided instructional strategy dictated from above, and more--were the root of the problem. 

 

In overturning the hearing examiner's findings in favor of the teacher, the district placed great reliance on a locally developed index of teacher effectiveness, which defines effectiveness largely in terms of standardized test scores of the teacher's students and attributes those scores to the teacher.  The district also argued before the commissioner that in the course of reconstitution it could automatically terminate any teacher whom it chose not to reassign, as if not being retained at that campus by itself established good cause for termination.

 

On appeal, Commissioner of Education Robert Scott yesterday ruled that Dallas ISD did not have good cause to terminate her employment.  Though the commissioner did not directly pass judgment on the validity of Dallas ISD's Classroom Effectiveness Index, his written decision states:

 

         The reason given for proposed termination was the failure of [Toussaint] to
         demonstrate a pattern of academic achievement by her students.  The Findings
         of Fact establish that the school's environment not [Toussaint] was the cause of
         the lack of achievement.  Because [Toussaint's] actions as a teacher are not
         found wanting, good cause does not exist to terminate [Toussaint's] contract.

 

The commissioner also set an important precedent for the interpretation of the reconstitution statute, specifically the implications of its provision on reassignment.  He ruled that a teacher not retained at a reconstituted campus is not automatically terminated, and "it is not per se good cause for the termination of a term contract when a teacher is not retained" under this statutory provision, Texas Education Code Section 39.1324(b).

 

The commissioner concluded that Toussaint "is entitled to reinstatement and any back pay and benefits from the time of discharge."   Congratulations to Texas AFT general counsel Martha Owen, to the Alliance/AFT and its local counsel, and to Sharon Toussaint on winning this signal victory for the fair treatment of Texas teachers.