The Vergara vs. California trial began on Monday, Jan. 27, and will determine the constitutionality of teacher tenure laws in California. Nine student plaintiffs have come to court to battle the tenure law that’s keeping ineffective, senior teachers in and passionate, young teachers out.

Neon Tommy lays out the basics of the court case and what’s happened this week:

The Players

Plaintiffs: Non-profit Organization, Students Matter, is leading the case on behalf of nine public school students from throughout the Southern California region (Meet them here.) According to their mission statement, Students Matter works to ensure that students all over California have access to quality public education. In regards to this case, they wish to abolish "ineffective" tenure laws to enhance the quality of public education.

Defendants: The two largest teacher unions in Calif., the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), alongside Calif. governor Jerry Brown, and the State Superintendent of Public Education. The Defendants believe that the plaintiffs’ case is meritless, in that the issues they bring up are not the problem to a poor quality public education system. Instead, the defendants argue that the educational challenges are due to larger issues that can’t easily be solved, according to the CTA.

Important Players This Week

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy: In support of the Plaintiffs, he testified on Tuesday, speaking to the “egregious” effect that tenure laws has on students.

Expert Witness Dr. Raj Chetty: The Harvard Professor of Economics also testified in support of the Plaintiffs. His research combines empirical evidence with economic theory to help design more effective government policies, according to the Students Matter website. 

Former L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: He spoke in a press conference yesterday in support of the plaintiffs.

Lay Witness Troy Christmas: The Director of Labor Relations for the Oakland Unified School District detailed the cost and process administrators have to go through to fire a bad teacher, according to Students Matter’s Twitter account. 

What do the plaintiffs want?

Essentially, the plaintiffs wish to abolish the tenure system in order to ensure that students in public school system have access to quality education that is taught by passionate, knowledgeable teachers.

What is tenure? Essentially, tenure is protection the teacher receives once they teach at their school for a certain number of years, and once a teacher becomes tenured, it is much, much more difficult to get them fired.

The Plaintiffs—nine public school students along with non-profit Students Matter—wish to abolish tenure by way of some major statutes: the Permanent Employment Statute, Dismissal Statutes, and the “LIFO” (last-in, first-out) Layoff Statute.

The Laws

The Permanent Employment Statute is a law that requires school administrators to permanently hire or fire their teachers after 18 months.

The Dismissal Statutes are the laws that make it difficult for school administrators to fire teachers by way of high costs, years of documentation, and long processes.

The “LIFO” Layoff Statute requires that the last hired teachers are the first ones that must be fired if layoffs at a school are to occur.

How are the defendants responding?

The defendants are countering by pointing out the inaccuracies of the plaintiffs’ arguments. They have yet to fully present their side of the case, but will have the chance in the coming weeks.

We're five days into the 20-day trial, which could be the completely altering to the public education system in the U.S., according to EdSource.org.

Reach Staff Reporter Katie Chen here. Follow her on Twitter here.