Teachers Union Claims 'Stunning Court Victory'

CHICAGO (WBBM) - A federal judge ruled Monday that the Chicago Public School system does not have the right to fire teachers without regard to seniority or tenure, handing a victory to the Chicago Teachers Union.

LISTEN: WBBM's Lisa Fielding Reports

In June, the Chicago School Board passed a resolution giving CPS President Ron Huberman the power to layoff teachers without following union contracts

Teacher's Union President Karen Lewis is calling it a stunning victory. "They lost. We won. That's it. The beauty of this is that a Federal Judge said this is illegal."

Over the summer, the district laid off hundreds of teachers. CEO Ron Huberman made headlines when he introduced a resolution to lay off teachers with poor evaluations first, without regard to tenure or seniority. The district never provided a count of how many poor performers were ultimately among those laid off. The Judge said that violates union contracts.

Lewis says this is a first step but a big one. "We're still filing grievances, we are still filing unfair labor practices." She added these kind of layoffs are happening all across the country. "This is precedent setting. This says tenure means something. You can't just fire teachers illegally….yeah."

Xiang Barrett was laid off from Julian High School after four years. He taught the Japanese program . He says it was eliminated and 151 students lost the class.He says the ruling means good things for teachers like him. "This was a validation from the court today. This is both an indictment of how this district is being run but it all suggests that there is a lot of hope."

CPS officials say they will look into whether to appeal the decision but say the majority of tenured teachers have already found new jobs within the district.