Opinion ID: 2040373
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Stewart's Teacher Tenure Rights

Text: Arguing that the school board's actions were contrary to the teacher tenure law, Stewart relies on Watson v. Burnett (1939), 216 Ind. 216, 23 N.E.2d 420. That case presented an early opportunity to explore the reach of the teacher tenure law's protections. Julia Burnett was a tenured teacher licensed to teach only in grades one through four. She was fired as the result of a reduction in force. Although the law permitted a school to discharge a tenured teacher in that situation, Burnett complained that non-tenured teachers had been retained to teach classes she was also certified to teach. She argued that if the law's purpose were to be fully realized, tenured teachers had to be given priority over equally qualified non-tenured teachers during reductions in force. This Court agreed, and ordered the school board to reinstate her. Relying on the teacher tenure law and the Watson decision, Stewart argues that because both she and the two non-tenured teachers lacked a counselor's certificate (one of the two certificates required by state law for the guidance counselor position), she was as qualified as they were to hold the title acting psychometrist/counselor. As the only tenured teacher among these three equals, Stewart claims the teacher tenure law requires her to have been retained. Her argument is unpersuasive. Indiana Code § 20-6.1-4-10 and our decision in Watson protect Stewart from being fired before non-tenured teachers due to a reduction in force only as long as her qualifications make her eligible for the job she seeks. Watson emphasized that a tenured teacher must still be qualified to teach in the position for which the non-tenured teacher is retained. 216 Ind. at 221, 23 N.E.2d at 423. This prerequisite is reinforced by regulations of the Indiana Department of Education, which require that school personnel, including guidance counselors, be properly certified in their field. Ind. Admin. Code tit. 511, r. 4-1-3 (1988). Stewart's own brief to the Court of Appeals concedes that she was unqualified under state law to work as a counselor. Brief at 23-24. Our decision in Watson bestowed a powerful sword on tenured teachers, and Stewart naturally seeks to use it in her favor. That sword, however, was designed to enforce the teacher tenure law. It cuts only in favor of the primary legislative intent behind that act  the promotion of the public good through the creation of a competent cadre of teachers in the state. The law is primarily intended to promote ... the welfare of the state and of the school system by preventing the removal of capable and experienced teachers at the political or personal whim of changing officeholders. State ex rel. Anderson v. Brand (1937), 214 Ind. 347, 351, 5 N.E.2d 531, 532, rev'd on other grounds sub nom. Indiana ex rel. Anderson v. Brand, 303 U.S. 95, 58 S.Ct. 443, 82 L.Ed. 685 (1938); see also School City of Lafayette v. Highley (1938), 213 Ind. 369, 376-77, 12 N.E.2d 927, 930 (purpose of the act is to protect the educational interest of the state, not to grant special privileges to any class of teachers); accord Note, Dismissal or Removal of Public School Teachers Under Teachers' Tenure Laws, 21 Notre Dame L.Rev. 25, 26-27 (1945). The sword may not be used by a teacher to litigate her way into a position that she is unqualified to hold under state law. Cf. Switzerland County School Corp. v. Sartori (1982), Ind. App., 442 N.E.2d 702 (rejecting teacher's suit seeking enforcement of contract with school system on grounds that contract was void because teacher lacked certificate to teach in Indiana). Stewart does not qualify for relief under the rule of Watson v. Burnett , which rule requires the tenured teacher to be as well qualified as the non-tenured teacher who was retained. The trial court correctly held that Ind. Code § 20-6.1-4-10 had not been violated by the school system.