State Sues 18 Districts Over School Conditions
The state sued 18 school districts Tuesday in a bid to force them to fix allegedly shoddy classrooms, issue textbooks and hire credentialed teachers as required under state law.
The suit is an outgrowth of one filed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which accuses the state of sidestepping its duty to guarantee students an equal public education.
Last month, San Francisco Superior Court Judge Peter J. Busch declined to dismiss the ACLU suit that accuses the state of providing its poorest public school students with an inferior education. The judge said the ACLU could sue the state on allegations that its “oversight and management systems are nonexistent or inadequate.”
The state, in its suit filed Tuesday in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges that the school districts and their locally elected boards, not Sacramento, ultimately are responsible for ensuring equal educational opportunities for all children.
“Rather than suing the districts, a system of oversight and management should be set up,” said ACLU attorney Michael Jacobs. “They’re suing themselves.”
The state suit, known as a cross-complaint to the ACLU suit, seeks a court order demanding the districts fix the various defects if the ACLU proves that the conditions exist.
School districts in Los Angeles, Lynwood, Long Beach, Inglewood, Alhambra and Montebello were among those named in the state suit.
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