The California Supreme Court refused Wednesday to overturn an appellate court ruling invalidating a landmark settlement that would have exempted dozens of struggling Los Angeles Unified schools from seniority-based layoffs.

Los Angeles Unified had asked the high court to review a 2-1 decision issued in August by the 2nd District Court of Appeal. That ruling sided with United Teachers Los Angeles, which claimed it had not been allowed to argue sufficiently against the consent decree reached by education advocacy groups and the district.

UTLA said the settlement trampled on its collective bargaining rights and violated teachers' rights to due process.

With the Supreme Court declining, without comment, to review the case, the appellate ruling stands. The appellate justices remanded the case back to Los Angeles County Superior Court so the union's arguments can be examined more fully.

"I'm disappointed that the Supreme Court chose not to hear such an important case," Superintendent John Deasy said in a phone interview. "I look forward to a robust trial, when the district can make a case for the rights of students in impacted schools and their constitutional right to civility."

UTLA President Warren Fletcher expressed gratitude with the Supreme Court's decision, saying it will allow teachers to participate in the debate.

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