The federal judges who hear appeals for protection filed by teachers against the education reform of President Enrique Peña Nieto have granted so far at least 100,000 individual provisional suspensions, which means that these teachers are protected in case of eventual layoffs if they fail the evaluations mandated under the reform, pending a decision on a judgment of amparo [protective injunction] as to whether their labor rights were violated, reported Eduardo Pérez Saucedo, attorney for the National Coordinating Committee of Education Workers (CNTE).
The country's teachers have until April 15th to demand protection [amparo] before the expiration of their right to challenge the entry into force of said [education] reform.
The suspensions were issued by three federal judges based in Cholula, Puebla, who reviewed the 400 group lawsuits signed by at least 100,000 teachers.
Since the group's demands were presented, the judges refused to suspend the reform, which was published February 26 in the Official Journal of the Federation, and also refused to enjoin implementation of the evaluations, on which teacher retention will depend.
The country's teachers have until April 15th to demand protection [amparo] before the expiration of their right to challenge the entry into force of said [education] reform.
The suspensions were issued by three federal judges based in Cholula, Puebla, who reviewed the 400 group lawsuits signed by at least 100,000 teachers.
Since the group's demands were presented, the judges refused to suspend the reform, which was published February 26 in the Official Journal of the Federation, and also refused to enjoin implementation of the evaluations, on which teacher retention will depend.
In an interview, the lawyer Eduardo Pérez Saucedo reported that these appeals for amparo are determined by José Luis Zayas Roldán, Carlos Alfredo Soto Morales and Pedro Arroyo Soto, third, sixth and seventh judges, respectively, from the Auxiliary Center of the Second Region in Cholula, Puebla.
The attorney indicated that the teachers in the country who wish to join the requests for amparo will be able to do so in the Offices of the federal district courts located in all states, where they will subsequently be turned over to Cholula.
Last week the three judges issued a judicial ruling, in which they stated:
"In relation to the mandatory evaluation for retention in the professional service of education workers, the suspension is denied. Now, regarding the possible involvement of the labor rights of the plaintiffs here, the provisional suspension is granted, so that things may remain in their current state; that is, their labor rights are not affected until the definitive suspension is resolved."The federal judges scheduled the next hearings for April 22, in which they will decide whether to grant definitive suspension.
This type of appeal implies that if a teacher fails an evaluation, he will certainly neither give up his salary as a member of the teaching profession nor teaching classes until a definitive verdict is rendered on his amparo.
In their collective demands for amparo [protection], prepared by attorney Pérez Saucedo, the teachers alleged constitutional violations and cited international treaties on labor rights so that judges might grant them the protection of the federal courts.
According to Pérez Saucedo and given the context, it cannot be ruled out that in the coming days suspensions that protect the teachers may increase to 300,000. Spanish original