News for North Texas
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Judge Denies Dallas Teacher Group's Attempt To Stop Home-Rule Effort

Bill Zeeble
/
KERA News

District Judge Carl Ginsberg has ruled in favor of the Dallas ISD in the home-rule charter case regarding four teachers named so far to the 15-member charter commission.

 Dallas’ largest teacher organization, the Alliance/AFT, sued the district saying those four teachers, chosen by DISD’s District Advisory Committee, should be invalidated because the advisory committee, by law, has to be elected. Some of them weren’t, and Ginsberg acknowledged in court Wednesday that some “were there illegally.” But in Thursday’s ruling, he said Alliance/AFT “cannot demonstrate harm to the member interests.” He said the group failed to show that the four teacher-members won’t adequately advocate for teachers and student interests.

A statement from the Dallas ISD says the judge’s ruling will allow the district to move forward in the home-rule process, “as prescribed by law. Our Board of Trustees will meet this evening to continue its consideration of how to select citizens to serve on the home-rule charter commission.”

In tonight’s meeting, trustees could also name more members of the charter writing body. 

Here's a statement from Alliance/AFT's president, Rena Honea: “While the decision rendered is disappointing, the judge did validate concerns based on the reasons for the lawsuit — that some of the teacher members of the Districtwide Advisory Council were improperly selected and there was potential harm to the teachers. In addition, the judge stated that the timeline to make these radical changes to our schools is unrealistic. In light of this ruling, Alliance/AFT will petition for an appeal and will continue to monitor this process very closely. ... The Home Rule push has been unnecessarily rushed in an effort to impose one group’s preconceived agenda on the whole community.”

Read the ruling

Judge's Order Denying Request For Temporary Injunction In Dallas ISD Home-Rule Case

Bill Zeeble has been a full-time reporter at KERA since 1992, covering everything from medicine to the Mavericks and education to environmental issues.