Suit on Schools Near Resolution

Lawyers for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the American Civil Liberties Union are close to settling a major lawsuit accusing the state of denying poor children the well-trained teachers, up-to-date textbooks and clean classrooms needed for a decent education, according to people involved in the talks.

Negotiators are expected to reach an agreement in the coming weeks to provide more money for textbooks and more state attention to urban campuses populated mostly by low-income and minority students, many still learning to speak English.

The ACLU’s 4-year-old suit alleged problems that “shock the conscience,” including vermin-infested schools.

But given the state’s weak fiscal outlook, the proposed settlement is not expected to provide a massive infusion of money to correct such problems. Instead, the agreement would focus more on monitoring local districts’ efforts to provide highly qualified teachers and use previously approved bond funds to build new campuses.

“There are very serious talks going forward,” said Mark Rosenbaum, the ACLU’s Southern California legal director, who refused to discuss specifics about the intensive effort to settle the class-action lawsuit, known as Williams vs. California.

Schwarzenegger is pressing hard for a settlement, an about-face from his predecessor, Gray Davis, whose administration vigorously fought the case and racked up more than $18 million in state legal bills.

Several sources familiar with the talks said the proposed agreement would seek a one-time, $139-million fund this year for the state’s lowest-performing schools to buy extra textbooks and instructional materials.

The draft agreement also would require the state’s most crowded schools to phase out by 2012 a controversial calendar that shaves 17 days of instruction off the year, sources said.

It would bar crowded campuses from converting to such a calendar and would allow the state to appoint trustees to oversee districts’ building programs if they don’t make adequate progress by 2008 to ease overcrowding and lengthen the school year.

Most of the schools on the shortened calendar are in the Los Angeles Unified School District, which has 129 of them. The district already is in the midst of a massive school construction program intended to return all of its students to a traditional, 180-day school year by 2012.

Negotiators, including representatives of the Los Angeles district, are still haggling over the authority of the trustees, one of the stickiest issues. And some education officials in Sacramento and in Los Angeles are worried that new layers of bureaucracy might be created without the state supplying enough money to correct many school deficiencies.

The state, the ACLU and other civil rights groups involved in the settlement talks are rushing because they want to give lawmakers in Sacramento time before adjourning Sept. 1 to pass legislation implementing aspects of the settlement, including the extra textbook money.

In an appearance at a Sacramento high school last week, Schwarzenegger said, “It is a shame that we as a state have neglected the inner-city schools. It’s terrible. It should never have happened. Every child is guaranteed to get equal education, equal quality teachers, equal textbooks, homework material. All of this stuff ought to be equal, but it hasn’t been.”

According to a transcript provided by his office Friday, Schwarzenegger also said it was “crazy” for the state to fight the lawsuit, adding: “We are very close in settling that ....”

Los Angeles school board President Jose Huizar said his panel is expected to discuss the possible settlement in a closed session next week.

“I am glad that the pending settlement is near,” said Huizar, who declined to offer details. “The case is long overdue for settlement. It’s obvious that education is not where we want it to be in California or LAUSD, and the plaintiffs pointed out areas that need improvement.”

The lawsuit, filed in May 2000 in San Francisco Superior Court, named 99 students from 18 schools in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other California cities. The case, named after a San Francisco middle school student, Eliezer Williams, sought help for tens of thousands of students.

According to the lawsuit, students in low-income schools “lack the bare essentials” such as adequately trained teachers, functioning toilets, proper heat and air conditioning, and modern textbooks.

Many of the schools also were infested with “vermin, including rats, mice and cockroaches,” contended the suit, which was also filed by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and other public interest groups and law firms.

The complaint said such conditions violated the California Constitution’s requirement that all students be offered a free and equal public education.

Sweetie Williams, 52, father of plaintiff Eliezer Williams, said he had received a letter from the ACLU in May saying the case was likely to be settled rather than go to court. He said he was not told of any details.

Williams, the father of seven and pastor of the 80-member Samoan Pentecostal Church in San Francisco, said he and his son had agreed to be a part of the lawsuit because textbooks at Eliezer’s Luther Burbank Middle School were lacking or tattered, the ceiling tiles in classrooms were falling down and the “academics were just lacking.”

He said being a part of the suit somewhat eased his frustrations. “We wanted to spearhead the issue and get as much attention as we could,” Williams said.

“My kids are my only assets. We can fix broken computers, but when a kid breaks, you are looking at prison.

“We just wanted to be a part of making sure that every kid gets the proper eduction,” Williams said. “Without it, they don’t have much of a future.”

The principal of Luther Burbank could not be reached for comment.

Other plaintiffs spoke of similar conditions at their campuses.

Abraham Osuna recalled that the bathrooms at Jefferson High School in South Los Angeles were so disgusting that he trained himself not to use the facilities while at school.

Osuna, now a 21-year-old film major at UCLA, also said his high school calculus book was 20 years old and that math texts often were marred by scribbles and destroyed by students who tore off page numbers.

“After a while, you end up having optimism washed away from you,” Osuna said.

Jefferson Principal Norm Morrow said the school has taken steps to correct the textbook and bathroom problems.

He said the staff now schedules regular bathroom inspections and cleanings, paying for extra custodial staff on weekends. And the school also makes sure every child has the appropriate textbooks -- relying on extra funding from the school district.

“I think we are in pretty good shape today,” Morrow said. “It’s just a matter of staying on top of it.”

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Times staff writer Stephanie Chavez contributed to this report.