Click photo to enlarge  School officials in the East Bay town of
Brentwood have claimed they couldn't fire a teacher who pulled a
5-year-old student from his chair in 2010 and kicked him as he
lay on the ground. They said state teacher dismissal rules were
too cumbersome.  They're wrong on the first point: There was
plenty of evidence to pursue a dismissal case against Dina
Holder, who eventually pleaded no contest to misdemeanor child
abuse for the incident. And there was no rational reason for
leaving her in the classroom for 2½ more years.  But Brentwood
officials were right about the second point: The teacher
discipline and dismissal process is too costly and drawn out. It
discourages school officials from trying to get rid of
ineffective and abusive teachers, even when they have good
cases.  It's time for the Legislature and Gov. Jerry Brown to
act, to stand up to the powerful teachers union and do what's
right for our children in the classroom. The discipline and
dismissal process must be revised.  Unde