Judge tentatively OKs plan to spread the pain of L.A. Unified layoffs

The L.A. Times reports:

A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge tentatively approved significant changes to the "last hired, first fired" rules that govern teacher layoffs to keep campuses with young staffs from bearing the brunt of budgetary cutbacks in the nation's second-largest school district.

The preliminary decision addresses a ground-breaking court challenge to layoffs that devastated the staffs of three middle schools during job cuts over the last few years in the Los Angeles Unified School District. The case was filed against the district by the American Civil Liberties Union and others, and alleged students were being deprived of their constitutional right to an equitable education.

A new constitutional right?