Advertisement

Schools Begin Posting Accountability Notices

Share
Times Staff Writer

California public school students returning to classes Monday after winter break found something new on campus: posted notices informing them and their parents that they are entitled to certain educational materials and to clean, safe classrooms.

The notices are a requirement of the settlement last year of a major public education lawsuit that accused the state of shortchanging poor children in adequate textbooks and trained teachers, among other things.

The American Civil Liberties Union and others filed the class-action lawsuit, commonly known as the Williams case, in May 2000. In a settlement agreement reached in August, the state agreed to spend nearly $1 billion over several years to ensure that low-performing, deteriorated campuses are repaired and that students receive enough textbooks and qualified teachers.

Advertisement

The notices, required Jan. 1 under one of five state laws that stemmed from the settlement, also spell out where students and parents can obtain complaint forms if they believe their schools fall short. The complaint notices are meant to help identify and resolve problems and thus aid in ensuring a better learning environment, the ACLU said Monday.

Districts designed their own notices, and some already have posted their versions -- which must follow the state requirements -- on their websites.

“Until now, California has never been accountable to its students for registering and remedying complaints about serious problems in the classroom,” Catherine Lhamon, an ACLU staff attorney, said in a news release highlighting the new requirement. “This is one of the first steps toward making positive changes to our public schools.”

Under the new law, students and parents can file complaints -- anonymously, if they wish -- to their school principal, who in turn must fix the deficiencies within 30 days. If they are not satisfied, students or parents may appeal to the school board or the district superintendent. Unresolved complaints about building conditions can be appealed to the state Allocation Board, which distributes state facilities bond money to school districts.

Districts must provide summaries of all complaints to the public every three months.

Although the notices must be posted in every public school, the settlement requires additional resources and better oversight for the bottom third of the state’s schools, as determined by standardized test scores.

The lawsuit, named after former San Francisco middle school student Eliezer Williams, alleged that many low-income students were deprived of necessities for a quality education, from toilets that flush to experienced teachers. Such conditions violated the state Constitution’s mandate that all students are entitled to a free and equal public education, the suit claimed.

Advertisement

In addition to the ACLU, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the nonprofit Public Advocates law firm and the law firm of Morrison & Foerster brought the suit.

Advertisement