CALIFORNIA IN BRIEF : SANTA ANA : Suit to Seek Revamp of School Financing

Frustrated by the perennial underfunding of public schools, 127 school districts will join today in a lawsuit demanding an overhaul of the state’s school finance system. The lawsuit, to be filed in Orange County Superior Court, alleges that unequal distribution of money to school districts violates the landmark 1974 Serrano vs. Priest case, which held that failure to provide equal funding violates equal protection provisions of the state Constitution. The suit also alleges that the amount of money currently allocated to kindergarten-through-12th-grade public schools is simply not enough to provide the “adequate” education mandated by law. John McDermott, the school districts’ lawyer, cited studies by the National Education Assn., which found that California spent $4,644 per pupil in the 1990-91 school year, compared to the national average of $5,261 per student, ranking the state 33rd in the nation. In 1973, California ranked 16th in spending on its students.