CA lawsuit seeks to overhaul school finance system
SAN FRANCISCO—A coalition of students, school districts and education groups sued the state of California on Thursday, seeking to force the governor and Legislature to develop a new system to fund its cash-strapped public schools.
The complaint was filed in Alameda County Superior Court by more than 60 students, nine school districts and groups representing school boards, administrators and parent-teacher associations.
"The real problem is the state is not providing the support my school needs to teach me everything I need," said Maya Robles-Wong, an 11th grade student in Alameda who is one of the plaintiffs.
California Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will oppose the lawsuit and believes the state will prevail.
"We will continue to fight to keep education a budget priority as well as fight for the other reforms essential to ensuring a great education for all our students," she said in a statement.
The lawsuit alleges the current school finance system is "unsound, unstable and insufficient," leads to unequal learning opportunities and doesn't provide the
Boston students test over urban average in reading
Boston students test over urban average in reading
Boston's public school fourth- and eighth-graders scored slightly above average on national reading exams compared with their counterparts in other large cities, according results released Thursday.