Kia Franklin

Study: Lawsuit Helped Improve CA Schools

According to the L.A. Times, a recent California study shows improvement of public schools in the state since settlement of the lawsuit Williams v. California, a class action that alleged the state was providing two very different sets of education to different children. The lawsuit alleged that English-learning, inner-city, and low income students, as well as students of color, were receiving the short end of the stick when compared to their suburban, native-English speaking, affluent, and white counterparts. Since settlement of the lawsuit, the study indicates "that teaching and learning conditions in the state's lowest-performing schools have improved: More children are receiving textbooks, school facilities are in better repair and more teachers have proper credentials."

It is, to say the least, quite sad that parents would have to resort to suing the state in order to ensure that their children have access to textbooks, clean and hygenic bathrooms, and credentialed teachers. We are taught to believe that education is the great equalizer, and that it is through our public school system that young minds develop a sense of civic participation and can grow into innovative, dynamic leaders. But our education system has generally failed so many of our children that it seems lawsuits are one of the few remaining messages that resonate loud enough to spark improvement.

Even post-litigation, some advocacy groups in California note schools' frustrating lack of responsiveness to parents' concerns about the quality of their children's education. Yet, according to the study, things have improved:

"[D]uring the study period from 2004 to 2006, students statewide received more than 88,000 textbooks and instructional materials, nearly 3,000 emergency campus repairs were funded and the percentage of fully credentialed teachers increased from 90 to 92%.

'Williams set a floor, not a ceiling, for providing all students a meaningful opportunity to learn, and while work still remains to be done to reach these basic standards in some schools, the significant improvements in all three key areas targeted by Williams demonstrate that clear standards, combined with targeted funds and effective accountability systems, can make a positive difference in our children's classrooms,' said Brooks Allen, the ACLU of Southern California attorney overseeing the settlement's implementation."

One principle in an Inglewood elementary school attributes the past years' improvements to the class action settlement that helped set the standards and ensure accountability for meeting them. Read more in this L.A. Times Article.

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Posted at 11:17 AM, Aug 14, 2007 in
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