Judge reverses tentative decision, moves students’ case forward

A Los Angeles County judge has reversed her tentative ruling in favor of the state, instead granting a class of elementary school students the opportunity to pursue a claim that they have been denied equal access to a good education based on race.

In her written order on July 18, Superior Court Judge Yvette M. Palazuelos ruled that statistics showing the low performances of the schools the students attended combined with the fact that the schools consist mostly of minorities was sufficient to support a constitutional violation claim. Ella T. et al. v. State of California, BC685730 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 5, 2017).

A tentative trial date has been set for Oct. 21, 2019, though lead attorney Mark D. Rosenbaum from Public Counsel is hopeful the state will settle outside the courtroom.

"I think it would be one of the ugliest trials in the history of California cases, but we're prepared to fight if the state's going to insist these kids don't have the same right as kids in more affluent areas," Rosenbaum said Tuesday. "If we go to trial, they're going to have to look these children in the eye and say they're getting the same opportunities when these are kids who don't have teachers every day in their classrooms."

The attorney general's office deferred comment to the California Department of Education. Bill Ainsworth, a spokesperson for the department, wrote in an email Tuesday, "The ruling is disappointing and the California Department of Education, State Board of Education and the Superintendent of Public Instruction will be reviewing all legal options available moving forward."

Rosenbaum said he has not had contact with the attorney general's office since receiving the judge's order last week.

It's clear from the order that the judge agreed with arguments made by Rosenbaum at the demurrer hearing, relating his case to Butt v. State of California, 4 Cal. 4th (1992). Palazuelos leaned heavily on Butt in her order to illustrate the state's responsibility in providing what California's Constitution deems a fundamental right to children: access to literacy.

"While the state delegates to agencies for operation of the school system, the state is ultimately responsible for public education," Palazuelos ruled.

Rosenbaum said while the Ella T. complaint represents "a more severe case of deprivation" than Butt, both are "grounded in the principle that the state of California is responsible for assuring every child gets basic, quality educational."

The remedy, according to Rosenbaum, has already been laid out in a 2012 grant application that was denied by the federal government. The Department of Education's Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy formula laid out a blueprint for providing statewide access to literacy that Rosenbaum said would, if enacted, satisfy his clients' needs.

"We have to remove the obstacles that get in the way, like having stable faculties and proven methods of teaching literacy be available," he said. "This case will prove it costs more not to educate children properly than to educate them."