Appellate court invalidates settlement that exempted some L.A. Schools from seniority-based layoffs

From The Los Angeles Daily News: A California appellate court has invalidated a settlement that exempted dozens of struggling Los Angeles Unified schools from seniority-based layoffs. The court ruled that the settlement violated the teachers union's right to due process. United Teachers Los Angeles argued that it had not been allowed to argue sufficiently against the consent decree reached by education advocacy groups and the district. The case dates back to February 2010, when civil rights attorneys sued the state and Los Angeles Unified, contending that seniority-based teacher layoffs at three low-performing middle schools violated students' rights to a fair and equal education.