Lawsuit: California school funding system is unconstitutional
Second case in two months filed Monday in Alameda Superior Court
Posted: 07/12/2010 04:18:17 PM PDT
Updated: 07/12/2010 09:32:46 PM PDT
OAKLAND — California's substandard school system is depriving students of the opportunity to receive a meaningful education and to meet the standards the state has set for them, a coalition of parents, students and civil rights advocacy groups argued in a lawsuit filed Monday in Alameda Superior Court against the state and the governor.
The plaintiffs argue that education is a fundamental right under California's constitution, and far too many students are failing to read and write at grade level or graduate from high school.
To remedy the problem, the coalition is demanding equal access to preschools, increased school funding, better data systems and an efficient, coherent school finance system that
provides more resources to children with greater need.The Campaign for Quality Education suit was filed less than two months after a similar case, Robles-Wong v. California, began to make its way through the court system. Attorneys involved with the second suit said the two cases are complementary, but that Monday's complaint gives voice to the needs of the state's low-income students.
Both cases were initiated in the context of ongoing school budget cuts, which have led to teacher layoffs, shortened school years and elementary school class sizes of 30 students or more in some districts. Per-student funding, already below the national average, dropped 14 percent from 2007-08 through 2009-10 during the state budget crisis,
according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office.
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