K–12 | Daily Report

The Schwarzenegger administration has 20 days to fix the state's school-funding system before another group of education advocates files suit.

Last Thursday, a broad coalition, involving the Campaign for Quality Education, Californians for Justice, and the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, delivered a letter to the governor's office warning of the pending legal action.

The CQE's letter coincided with a separate filing in Alameda County by several school districts, the California School Boards Association and more than 60 individual students and their families.

The suit, called Robles-Wong, et al. v. State of California, asks the court to compel the state to align its school finance system – its funding policies and mechanisms – with the educational program that the state has put in place.

To do this, state lawmakers must compute what education truly costs and develop adequate spending priorities, the lawsuit says. The possible lawsuit by CQE takes a different turn, alleging that funding inequities have had greater impact on schools serving minorities and the poor.

More than half of California students fail to achieve proficiency on the State's content standards, one in three students fails to graduate high school, and California students lag behind students in nearly every other state, according to the May 20 demand letter.

It also notes that California has dropped in recent years to 47th in per-pupil spending and now, with recent budget cuts, may have the lowest student funding in the nation. Coalition member Edgar Hilbert, of Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, said the link between poor funding and poor educational funding is real.

The statistics don't lie. Children in poor neighborhoods, especially those who are black and brown, attend districts and schools with few financial resources that have been further decimated by recent budget cuts. Their schools are being forced to lay off teachers, increase class sizes, cut course offerings, and eliminate many support services. Why are we surprised when they have low test scores and alarming dropout rates?"

John Affeldt of Public Advocates, one of three law firms representing the coalition's demand, said the state has waited too long to resolve the funding mess. In March, federal officials opened an inquiry into the accounting practices of the governor's office after Public Advocates and several others charged the state with manipulating the books to mask a lack of spending.

We're informing the State it's out of time. Unless the Governor and Legislature agree to take unprecedented action, we're going to un-stick the legislative paralysis in Sacramento through the courts," said John Affeldt, a managing attorney at Public Advocates. "That means making sure there is adequate funding to educate all students to 21st century standards and that the funding is equitably delivered.

A recent survey of public opinion found that 62 percent of Californians believe spending on education is insufficient. Despite massive job losses and teacher layoffs due to budget shortfall, last week's proposed K-12 budget for 2010-2011 had $888,729 less than the one proposed by the governor in January.