Substitute teachers become permanent fixture in Los Angeles schools

As California's education budget continues to shrink and the Los Angeles Unified School District continues to layoff teachers, the quality of student learning is rapidly diminishing. Schools are forced to rely increasingly on substitute teachers to fill the void left by these teacher vacancies. Students in low-income, high-minority urban schools are hit the hardest by this trend, causing already struggling students to fall further behind academically and socially. Three of these flailing schools, Markham, Gompers and John H. Liechty middle schools, filed a class-action suit in 2010 against LAUSD and the State of California, to fight for their right to a fair education. The court's settlement has proposed sweeping legislative changes that may lead to educational reform at a state and national level, as well as sparking a discussion of policy change between the public and the teachers' union.