Union signals coming appeal of teacher placement ruling

Updated: As promised, Colorado’s largest teachers union filed a notice Tuesday that they intend to appeal a Denver judge’s ruling that left the state’s teacher evaluation law untouched.

The Colorado Education Association (CEA) is challenging the dismissal of a case they filed earlier last year. In their January lawsuit, CEA, along with the Denver teachers union, alleged Denver Public Schools (DPS) abused the mutual consent provision of the law, which requires both principals and teachers to agree to a teacher’s placement. The union said that DPS’ practices violated teachers’ due process rights, while supporters of the state law said the lawsuit was intended to bring down the whole system.

In June, a Denver judge threw out the case, saying it covered ground laid by other similar lawsuits, also previously dismissed.

In the wake of the suit’s dismissal, the CEA promised to appeal. They made good on that promise Tuesday afternoon.

The notice lists the issues the union intends to make a part of their appeals, which are largely a reiteration of its arguments from the original lawsuit. The actual appeal will come later. In the meantime, the case will be transferred from the district court, where it was dismissed, to the state’s appeals court. That bureaucratic process must occur within 91 days, after which a schedule will be set for briefings on the case.

A group of organizations, including the Gates Family Foundation and A+ Denver, who support the law issued a statement Thursday, criticizing the coming appeal.

“We feel this intent to appeal is an unnecessary waste of resources and waste of time for our state—hurting Colorado’s children the most,” they said in a statement.

The full notice is below: