State, ACLU Settle Suit on Education
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration and the American Civil Liberties Union have tentatively settled a major education lawsuit that accused the state of denying poor children adequate textbooks, trained teachers and safe classrooms, lawyers for both sides said Tuesday.
The proposed agreement would require the state to devote as much as $1 billion over a period of several years for 2,400 low-performing schools to repair deteriorating facilities and $50 million to assess such needs. It also would provide nearly $139 million this year for textbooks.
The tentative pact in the Williams vs. California suit, which was reached after five months of negotiations, would provide additional resources and beefed-up oversight for the bottom third of California's schools as ranked by scores on standardized tests.
ACLU attorneys hailed the proposed agreement as a revolution for the education of poor children in California and praised Schwarzenegger's efforts to settle the case, an about-face from his predecessor, Gray Davis, whose administration spent $18 million fighting it.
"It's going to end generations of neglect with respect to these kids," said Mark Rosenbaum, the ACLU's Southern California legal director. "The state is stepping up for the first time in its history to satisfy its constitutional and moral responsibility."
The lawsuit, which was filed in May 2000 in San Francisco Superior Court, alleged that the state deprives tens of thousands of low-income students the necessities for a quality education, such as adequately trained teachers, functioning toilets, modern textbooks, and proper heat and air conditioning.
Named after a San Francisco middle-school student, Eliezer Williams, the suit argued that such conditions violated the California Constitution's requirement that all students receive a free and equal public education.
In addition to the ACLU, the suit was filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the nonprofit San Francisco law firm Public Advocates and the Morrison & Foerster firm.
The deal would establish a process for students, teachers and parents to report complaints, and it would give county education superintendents powers to monitor low-performing campuses to ensure adequate textbooks and other necessities, including qualified teachers.
County officials would report their findings to local school boards and the state.
