NCAE
NEWS BULLETIN June
2015
NORTH CAROLINA ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATORS
Volume 45, No.10
Law Ending Due Process is Unconstitutional
Veteran Teachers Victorious in Career Status Case
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled that the 2013 state law to strip the career status rights from veteran teachers is unconstitutional. The court upheld an early decision that said the law violated the constitutional protection of contracts and the prohibition against taking a person’s property. “We are pleased that the Court heard the voices of educators and found that veteran teachers cannot be stripped of their due process rights,” said President Rodney Ellis. While we celebrate this victory, the court did uphold a decision that eliminates the opportunity to earn career status for those teachers in the pipeline. These are teachers who are starting their career but have not yet
worked four years, the time it typically takes to earn career status. NCAE is still reviewing this part of the ruling and will determine the next steps to be taken. Under the current law, new teachers cannot earn career status. “Career status is a critical tool in recruiting and retaining quality educators, just like fair compensation and working and learning conditions,” added Ellis. “We need to ensure that all teachers can focus on educating our children and helping them be successful and not be worried about arbitrary disciplinary actions by administrators outside of the classroom. The Association will continue to fight, from the statehouse to the courthouse, for students, educators and our public schools.” NCAE, along with six public school
teachers, filed the lawsuit to protect the rights of teachers. Without this lawsuit, all career status teachers would have been required to work under a one-, two- or four-year contract beginning in 2018, which could have resulted in an exodus of teachers leaving the profession. Now that the Court has ruled, local and state elected leaders should take the steps needed to provide all teachers with basic employment rights. Let your voices be heard that career status is a basic employment right that ALL teachers should be able to earn. Having a unified voice for public education makes a difference in the classroom, for your profession, and in your personal lives.