NC Judge: Stripping veteran teachers of tenure rights unconstitutional

RALEIGH, N.C. — A Superior Court judge on Friday struck down a law requiring veteran teachers to surrender their tenure rights in exchange for multi-year contracts.

Judge Robert Hobgood ruled that the law, passed last year as a provision in the state budget, violates the contract clause of the U.S. Constitution and amounts to an illegal taking of property under the state constitution. He issued a permanent injunction against the law and denied the state's request to stay his ruling pending an appeal.

Teachers with tenure, officially called career status, are given extra due process rights, including the right to a hearing if they are disciplined or fired.

Lawmakers called on school districts to identify the top 25 percent of their teachers and offer them new four-year contracts with $500 annual salary increases. In exchange, those teachers would lose their career status protections. The provision aims to move North Carolina to a performance-based system for paying teachers instead of one based on longevity.

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