Recruitment & Retention

Judge Halts N.C. Tenure Law in Two Districts

By Stephen Sawchuk — April 24, 2014 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Two North Carolina districts have won a temporary freeze from a 2013 state law that phases out tenure in favor of shorter-term contracts.

Special Superior Court Judge Richard Doughton granted a preliminary injunction to the Guilford and Durham districts April 23, the Greensboro News & Record reported. That means they don’t have to meet a June 30 deadline under the law to offer a quarter of their teachers a four-year contract offering higher pay in exchange for relinquishing tenure.

The ruling doesn’t seem to apply to the state’s other 113 districts, all of whom must also meet the 25 percent mandate. But the suit will proceed to a trial under Doughton, and any future ruling might have statewide implications.

Under the 2013 law, tenure will end for all in the 2018-19 school year, when teachers will be put on one-, two-, or four-year contracts.

The law, as I reported earlier for Education Week, is deeply unpopular among teachers and administrators.

The two districts sued the state, arguing that the law was too vaguely written and opened the districts up to lawsuits from teachers. They also alleged that by requiring them to revoke tenure, it compelled them to potentially violate teachers’ constitutional rights to due process.


Source: Education Week

Graphic Design: Vanessa Solis

Related Tags:

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teacher Beat blog.