Shelby Baumgartner v. Perry Public Schools

In these consolidated appeals, respondent school districts ask us to reverse a series of orders entered by the State Tenure Commission, which instructed administrative law judges to hear petitioners’ suits. For the reasons stated below, we hold that the State Tenure Commission does not have jurisdiction to hear petitioners’ claims, and accordingly, we reverse its administrative orders and dismiss petitioners’ actions.

I. NATURE OF THE CASE

A. THE LAW OF TEACHER LAYOFFS

This case is about governmental power and authority, and who gets to make and review decisions about teacher layoffs in the…