Barbara Wright, an Albany resident with a diabetic son, has been one of the lucky parents.
From elementary school to high school, she has been able to count on a teacher, administrator or someone else to help her son Jonathan Mahmoud with his insulin shots when no school nurse was available -- the norm in California's budget-battered education system, where there's only one nurse for every 2,200 students.
"It's the way it should work," said Wright, whose nearly 16-year-old son can now, for the most part, tend to his own insulin needs at Albany High School.
But if the politically potent California Nurses Association has its way, unlicensed school employees will be unable to administer insulin shots to
Barbara Wright holds a syringe and vial of insulin as she is photographed with son Jonathan Mahmoud, 15, in Albany, Calif. on May 23, 2013. (Kristopher Skinner)
students like Jonathan or the other estimated 14,000 diabetic students now attending California's public schools.
In a legal showdown set to be heard Wednesday, the California Supreme Court will consider arguments from the nurses' union and other allies, including the state's teachers' union, who contend that under state law only