Union victory: appeals court upholds California tenure

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A California appeals court has handed teacher unions a big victory by reversing a judge's ruling that found tenure deprived students of a good education.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal ruled Thursday that the plaintiffs failed to show that job protection for teachers was unconstitutional.

The three-judge panel says the nine students who sued did not show that state statutes caused some students to receive a worse education than others.

The court says the law may lead to hiring and retaining more ineffective teachers but says it's ultimately up to administrators to assign teachers.

A Los Angeles Superior Court judge had found tenure and four others provisions of the state education code unconstitutional because particularly poor and minority students were deprived of a good education.