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What is the Williams vs. California lawsuit and how does it help CA's students to have healthier schools?
CA Dept. of Ed website about the Williams Case Settlement
http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/ce/wc/index.asp
Latest information on the landmark Superior Court case to provide all students equal access to instructional materials, safe schools, and quality teachers. (Note: Safe Schools refers to healthy schools in good repair!)
Sample Uniform Complaint Procedure Form (by State of CA)
http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/ce/wc/documents/ucpform.pdf
Complaint Procedure for the Williams Case Latest information on the landmark Superior Court case to provide all students equal access to instructional materials, safe schools, and quality teachers.
http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/ce/wc/wmsucp.asp
Williams case legislation requires a school district to use its uniform complaint process to help identify and resolve any deficiencies related to instructional materials, teacher vacancy or missassignment, and emergency or urgent facilities conditions that pose a threat to the health and safety of the pupils or staff.
Uniform Complaint Procedure: The UCP will apply to all schools in all deciles.
Sample Notice to Parents and Guardians Complaint Rights
http://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/ce/wc/documents/samplenotice.pdf
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Know Your Rights Brochure in English (Williams vs. CA)
http://www.decentschools.org/settlement/williamsbrochure_042005.pdf
Know Your Rights Brochure En Espanol, Folleto explicando el Nuevo Procedimineto para Hacer Quejas (Williams vs. CA)
http://www.decentschools.org/settlement/williamsbrochureESP_042005.pdf
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Please call the toll-free number, 1-877-532-2533, if you would like more information about the settlement or the uniform complaint process, or need help filing a complaint or an appeal.
Por favor llame a la línea gratuita, 1-877-532-2533, si usted quiere más información sobre el acuerdo o el nuevo procedimiento para hacer quejas, o necesita ayuda presentando una queja o una apelación.
Directions for Complaint Procedures by DecentSchools.org, including sample complaint forms in English and Spanish.
http://www.decentschools.org/settlement_action.php
DecentSchools.org is a site about Williams vs. CA, maintained by Morrison & Foerster LLP, a lawfirm that brought forth a class action lawsuit in CA on behalf of students who were not receiving an adequate education for a variety of reasons - some, environmental. This site is about the terms of the settlement of that lawsuit, with conditions that have been set up to help CA students, parents and teachers.
From the website, Decentschools.org:
"The American Civil Liberties Union and the State of California today announced they had reached a settlement agreement in the class action education lawsuit Williams v. California. The suit was filed by the ACLU, the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), Public Advocates, Inc. and other groups on behalf of California students who attended substandard schools in California."
"Should California schoolchildren be taught in crummy, overcrowded schools without enough textbooks and trained teachers?
http://www.aclu-sc.org/News/Releases/100740/
ACLU - Southern CA, Press Release Aug. 13, 2004
How can we expect students to learn in such schools?
Far too many California children attend schools that:
hire too many untrained teachers;
suffer from serious overcrowding;
are in terrible shape, with filthy bathrooms, leaky roofs, and heating and cooling systems that do not work; and
do not have enough textbooks or rely on textbooks that are out-of-date. Fixing these problems is ultimately the State's job.
That's why we brought this lawsuit -- to achieve decent schools for all California schoolchildren.
Schools Affected by the Settlement
All public schools in California are affected by the settlement. For example, every school district must now provide a uniform complaint process for complaints regarding insufficient instructional materials, unsafe or unhealthy facility conditions, and teacher vacancies and misassignments. In addition, schools ranked in deciles one through three on the 2003 Base Academic Performance Index (API) receive additional funds and oversight.
Who We Are
The team that brought the Williams lawsuit (and that represents the plaintiff schoolchildren in the case) is a coalition of civil rights organizations, public interest law groups and private law firms including:
Lead Organizations
American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California
American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California
American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego
Morrison & Foerster LLP
Public Advocates, Inc.
Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF)
Other Organziations
The Asian Pacific American Legal Center
Center for Law in the Public Interest
Lawyer's Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area
Peter Edelman of the Georgetown University Law Center
Professors Karl Manheim and Alan Ides of Loyola Law School
Robert Myers of Newman, Aronson, Vanaman
This site has been organized and is maintained by Morrison & Foerster LLP."
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DailyBulletin.com
Article Published: Sunday, June 26, 2005 - 9:41:23 PM PST
Inspections show schools doing well
http://www.dailybulletin.com/Stories/0,1413,203%257E21481%257E2940466,00.html
Visits stem from lawsuit settlement
By Kenneth Todd Ruiz
Staff Writer
"Inspectors have counted textbooks, scoured athletic fields and flushed toilets for two months at Inland Valley schools in a statewide scramble to oblige terms of a massive lawsuit settled last year. Known throughout the education system as the Williams Settlement, every district with low-performing schools must participate in a four-year plan to monitor its facilities, books and faculty certification.
"We got phone calls from around the state, from parents and teachers worried about horrible conditions in schools," said Catherine Lhamon of the American Civil Liberties Union, which brought the suit on behalf of a group of students. "We found very similar conditions around the state but typically in areas with low-income students."
The lawsuit's settlement, which sought to improve learning environments by improving school facilities, requires 100 schools in the Inland Valley area to be evaluated for a four-year period.
Ontario-Montclair, Pomona and Fontana school districts comprise three quarters of those, each with about 25 schools in the program.
Inspectors from Pomona Unified and Los Angeles County descended on Simons Middle School in Pomona one recent afternoon. Of Pomona's 40 K-12 schools, 26 warrant inspection, based on their ranking by the 2003 Academic Performance Index.
For more than three hours, they checked light bulbs, fire extinguishers, drinking fountains. And they flushed every toilet they could find.
Judy Jonas has been the Pomona district's point person for Williams compliance and has participated in many of the district's site inspections.
"We wanted to make sure we not only complied but exceeded the terms of the settlement," Jonas said.
Although the teams are only required to enter one-quarter of all rooms, the team said its standard was to visit 40 percent to 60 percent.
One thing every classroom must have is a visible complaint form posted.
Jonas said the district has not received many complaints under the new system.
"It's pretty amazing that they're so low," Jonas said. "There are not as many as I thought it would be."
She said the requirements for teacher credentialing have been more challenging, specifically the need for teachers to work with English-language learners.
Joe Williams, Pomona district director of maintenance and operations, was on the team.
He phoned in some problems encountered for more immediate attention, such as a hazardous gap found in a grate and expired fire extinguishers.
After the inspection, county employee and team member Jason Chow met with school principal Darren Knowles to discuss the group's findings.
No major deficiencies were cited, but the team report noted about 80 minor issues such as graffiti, broken lights, exposed wiring, missing fire extinguishers, mold and a broken sink. Of a possible rating of good, fair or poor, Simons was rated fair.
Jonas said of the schools audited, the district has performed well.
"We have more goods than fairs and no poors," she said.
And they'll be back at the start of the school year to do it all again. Another visit is required in the first four weeks of the new school year.
In 2000, 100 San Francisco students filed a class-action suit against the California Department of Education, then-Gov. Gray Davis and the state for failing to provide adequate school supplies, classrooms and qualified teachers. The suit was settled in late 2004.
The settlement was adopted through state legislation, which provided $138 million for the lowest performing schools.
And $800 million will come in future years for critical facilities repairs.
Information on facilities, books and teachers gleaned from the evaluations will also be incorporated into the School Accountability Report Cards published annually by the state.
Charter schools with the same designation are eligible for Williams funding on an opt-in basis but must submit to the same requirements as public schools.
Los Angeles County has scrambled to visit the 598 schools, most of which are in the sprawling Los Angeles Unified School District.
Margo Minecki, spokeswoman for Los Angeles County schools said they were able to inspect about half of the schools indicated in the settlement.
Lhamon from the ACLU who participated in one of the Pomona site visits said the district has set a model for other schools to follow.
"I was wildly impressed with the district's efforts to comply," she said.
Christine McGrew, spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County office of Education, said there were 153 visits planned by teams of three county employees.
All but seven of Ontario-Montclair's 34 elementary and middle schools required inspection under Williams.
District Operations Administrator Craig Misso said they've been pleased with the results of the inspection process.
"We've been doing similar inspections of our own on an internal basis annually," he said. "We were confident going into these inspections that our facilities would be found in good standing."
Chaffey, Montclair and Ontario high schools were also on the list, and Superintendent Barry Cadwallader said they all received ratings of good.
McKinley Elementary School in Colton also fared well during its Williams inspection. The team found clean facilities and adequate instructional materials. One of the few deficiencies found was that each classroom should have its own fire extinguisher instead of sharing them.
"If there is a situation where children have shoddy textbooks, then we should be accountable," Principal Yolanda Cabrera said. "We need to own up to our responsibilities as educators."
County offices for both Los Angeles and San Bernardino receive $3,000 per school from the state, which means roughly $450,000 for the 153 schools San Bernardino must inspect.
All team members are county employees trained to do the inspections. Many are not experts in facilities or instruction, as even county computer programmers are pulled from their duties and trained to do the inspections.
A fourth of all visits must be unannounced.
San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Herb Fischer said he was pleased the majority of the school campuses inspected met Williams requirements.
"From the preliminary reports I've received, the schools we have visited are providing sufficient instructional materials for their students," Fischer said. "At some of the older schools, there have been minor facility issues, but districts have been proactive in identifying areas in need of repair."
Overall, San Bernardino county officials are pleased with the process.
"It's nice to have it validated that the right thing is being done," McGrew said. "And to provide a little nudge if something needs improvement.""
Staff writer Selicia Kennedy-Ross contributed to this report.
Kenneth Todd Ruiz can be reached by e-mail at
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or by phone at (909) 483-8555.
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