The state Constitution does not guarantee children in California a minimally funded quality education, a divided California Court of Appeal ruled Wednesday in a landmark decision closely watched by proponents of more K-12 spending.
The 2-1 decision on two six-year-old lawsuits denies the California School Boards Association and student advocacy groups the right to a trial to make the case that underfunding by the Legislature is denying students the quality education they’re entitled to. The plaintiffs immediately said they would appeal the ruling to the California Supreme Court.
The San Francisco-based 1st District Court of Appeal ruled on separate but related lawsuits filed in 2010: Campaign for Quality Education v. State of California, filed by Public Advocates on behalf of five nonprofits serving low-income, minority families, and Robles-Wong et al. v. State of California, jointly filed by the school boards association, the state PTA, the Association of California School Administrators and the California Teachers Association, together with Stanford Law Professor William Koski, representing low-income children.
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