The lawsuit filed by ACSA, California School Boards Association and California PTA to declare California’s current education finance system unconstitutional is garnering attention across the state.

The suit, which was filed May 20 in Alameda County, demands California be required to establish a school finance system that provides all students an equal opportunity to meet the academic goals set by the state.

The three associations are part of a broad coalition of plaintiffs that includes more than 60 students and their families, plus nine school districts.

Not surprisingly, the governor’s administration upheld its funding of public schools and vowed to defend the lawsuit vigorously.

“The governor will oppose this lawsuit and believes the state will prevail,” said Secretary of Education Bonnie Reiss. “The funding of public education in California has long been and continues to be a top priority of California, even in bad economic and budget times. We will continue to fight to keep education a budget priority as well as fight for the other reforms essential to ensuring a great education for all our students, regardless of where they live or their race or economic background.”

ACSA President Chuck Weis said plaintiffs filed the suit as a last resort to remedy a broken school finance system.

“The governor’s and Legislature’s continued failure to fix a system they know is broken threatens the future of California’s students,” Weis said. “Numerous reports during the last decade have documented the state’s failure to remedy the broken school finance system.

“The governor’s own Committee on Educational Excellence in 2007 concluded that our current system is not producing the results that taxpayers and citizens are counting on and that our students deserve.”

Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell issued a strong statement supporting the goals of the case.

“California students are the victims of broken budget promises and a broken school funding system,” O’Connell said. “I applaud this effort to align appropriate funding for our public education with our goal of educating students to master our rigorous academic standards. Budget discussions about schools in California have for too long been a one-sided conversation about how to stretch dwindling resources. This lawsuit now forces a conversation we must have about actually meeting the needs of our students.”

O’Connell pointed out that California is failing to fund programs and resources students need to thrive and compete in a competitive global economy. Class sizes are growing. Summer school, arts, music, librarians, nurses, and counselors have been cut. The school year at many districts has been reduced.

“For years, our teachers, administrators, and especially our students have been doing more with less,” he said. “A growing number of California districts face financial insolvency, and California finds itself near the bottom nationally in per-pupil funding.”

Likewise, the California Teachers Association issued a statement of support for the lawsuit.

“California educators know firsthand how the chronic underfunding of public schools is destroying the progress our students and schools are making and is denying a generation of children a real opportunity to succeed,” said CTA President David Sanchez. “CTA believes every child has the right to a quality public education and that California has a constitutional obligation to provide adequate funding to all schools. 

“We are proud to support the goals of the lawsuit filed by the California School Boards Association, the Association of California School Administrators and the California State PTA requiring state lawmakers to uphold their constitutional duty and design and implement a school finance system that provides all students equal access to a quality educational program.  

“All students should have a right to attend schools with reasonable class sizes, qualified teachers and adequate resources. It’s unfortunate that lawsuits must be filed because our governor and legislators have failed to fulfill their constitutional obligation and invest in our state’s most important resource – our children.”

For more information about the lawsuit, please visit www.fixschoolfinance.org, or email ACSA’s Julie White at jwhite@acsa.org.