California Insider

The governor's folks respond on the alleged goof in the merit pay proposal:

The facts are clear: The initiative gives school districts MORE authority to dismiss an employee under ALL OF THOSE REASONS SPECIFIED IN CURRENT LAW, plus address performance issues. Currently, a school district can dismiss an employee based on a variety of grounds, including immoral or unprofessional conduct, dishonesty, unsatisfactory performance, conviction of a felony, etc. The initiative does not weaken this authority. It simply gives school districts the ability to evaluate and reward outstanding performance.

I still think it's more than open to debate. And it's curious that the response only refers to dismissing employees. What about hiring them? The initiative says that "any employment decision" must be based "solely" on the factors listed, and the applicant's criminal record is not among them.