Historic Lawsuit Challenges California’s Unconstitutional Education Finance System
A historic lawsuit was filed in May against the State of California requesting that the current education finance system be declared unconstitutional and that the state 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 case, Robles-Wong, et al. v. State of California, was filed in the Superior Court of California in Alameda County. Specifically, the suit 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, plaintiffs allege, the State must scrap its existing finance system; do the work to determine how much it actually costs to fund public education to meet the state’s own program requirements and the needs of California’s school children; and develop and implement a new finance system consistent with Constitutional requirements.
The lawsuit was filed by a broad coalition, including more than 60 individual students and their families, nine school districts from throughout the State, the California School Boards Association (CSBA), California State PTA, and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).
The Institute applauds this initiative.
California Education Statistics
Staffing ratios
California’s ranking:
• 49th among all states in student-teacher ratios. (Digest of Education Statistics
[DES], 2007-08)
• 45th in instructional aides. (DES, 2007-08)
• 46th in district officials and administrators. (DES, 2007-08)
• 48th in total school staff. (DES, 2007-08)
• 49th in guidance counselors. (DES, 2007-08)
• 50th in librarians. (DES, 2007-08)
Finances
• California spends $2,131 less per pupil than the national average, ranking the State
44th in the country. (National Education Association [NEA], 2008-09)
• When adjusted for regional cost differences of providing education services (using
a national wage index), California spends $2,856 less per pupil than the national
average, or 47th among all states. (NEA, 2008-09, and National Center for Education
Statistics)
• California spends less per pupil than each of the largest 10 states in the nation –
almost $6,000 less per pupil than New York. (NEA, 2008-09)
Source. California School finance lawsuit. http://www.fixschoolfinance.org/