Cayla J., Kai J., and Ellori J., through their guardian ad litem Angela J., Matthew E. and Jordan E., through their guardian ad litem Catherine E., Megan O. and Matilda O., through their guardian ad litem Maria O., Alex R. and Bella R., through their guardian ad litem Kelly R., , Tamara I., Isaac I., and Joshua I., through their guardian ad litem Susan I., Natalia T. and Billy T., through their guardian ad litem Hillary T., Daniel A. through his guardian ad litem Sara A., Community Coalition and The Oakland REACH v. State of California, State Board of Education, State Department of Education, Tony Thurmond, in his official capacity as State Superintendent of Public Instruction, and Does 1-100
Published: May 3, 2024 | Result Date: Feb. 1, 2024 | Filing Date: Nov. 30, 2020 |Case number: RG20084386 Settlement – Non-monetary relief
Judge
Court
Alameda County Superior Court
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Mark D. Rosenbaum
(Public Counsel )
Michael A. Jacobs
(JAMS)
Shaelyn K. Dawson
(Morrison & Foerster LLP)
Erik J. Olson
(Morrison & Foerster LLP)
Yue Li
(Morrison & Foerster LLP)
Purvi G. Patel
(Morrison & Foerster LLP)
Defendant
Elizabeth N. Lake
(California Department of Justice)
Facts
In this case, a group of California students, through their guardians, sued the State of California, State Board of Education, Department of Education, and Superintendent of Education Tony Thurmond. Plaintiffs alleged that they, as economically disadvantaged students and people of color, were denied basic education equality during the COVID-19 pandemic, when classes switched to remote learning. Specifically, they alleged that between 800,000 and 1 million students lacked devices and and/or connectivity to online classes, and that poorer and POC students were disproportionately affected, resulting in racial discrimination, wealth discrimination, and violations of their rights to equal protection and education under the California Constitution.
Result
The case settled. Under the settlement agreement, defendants agreed to propose legislation that would require LEAs to use remaining unencumbered funds in the state's Learning Recovery Emergency Block Grant to be used to assist with learning recovery in a manner that would target those students with the highest needs, as defined by statewide test scores and chronic absenteeism, for additional learning recovery supports. Defendants also agreed to pay $2.5 million dollars in attorneys' fees.
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