ST. PAUL  — Education reform groups said they plan to file a lawsuit today challenging Minnesota tenure and dismissal laws that protect teachers.

The lawsuit is set to be filed against the state of Minnesota in Ramsey County. The suit is modeled after similar challenges in New York and California. It contends that the laws protect teachers who should be removed from the classroom and prevent thousands of students from getting a high-quality education.

The plaintiffs are four mothers from Duluth, St. Paul and Minneapolis. They are seeking to have the tenure and dismissal laws ruled unconstitutional.

“When we look throughout the country at places where there are harmful teacher employment statutes and significant achievement gaps, Minnesota was one of the first states that popped up as a place that could use this kind of help,” said Ralia Polechronis, executive director of Partnership for Educational Justice, one of the education reform groups supporting the Minnesota case.

At issue are laws that give layoff protection to teachers after three years on the job, require a lengthy procedure to fire them and set up a system where teachers with less seniority are fired first regardless of their performance.

Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius defended Minnesota’s laws.

“We also have rigorous laws that protect due process for teachers and that, when followed, provide school administrators and school boards with the authority to remove teachers,”  Cassellius said.