San Bernardino Complaint

The complaint filed with the San Bernardino County Office of Education on June 30, 2020 by Public Advocates and the ACLU of Southern California alleges massive neglect of Black and Brown students in schools throughout San Bernardino by the San Bernardino County Office of Education (SBCOE). It was filed on behalf of the Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC), a non-profit comprising 63 interfaith congregations representing over 60,000 families in San Bernardino and the Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), a non-profit dedicated to training and developing the capacity of religious and lay leaders in congregations across the Inland Empire. The complaint outlines more than $300 million in unaccounted or misspent funds earmarked for low-income students and students of color, English language learners and foster youth that were allowed to go unchallenged in district spending plans approved by county education officials.

After the County rejected complainants allegations,  we filed an appeal with the CA Department of Education (CDE) on October 14, 2020. The appeal asks CDE to recognize that districts have a clear existing legal obligation to actually fulfill their equity obligations and that County Offices of Education cannot continue to allow districts to evade LCFF requirements and shortchange the must vulnerable students. To our knowledge, this is the first complaint that directly challenges a County Office of Education for failing to fulfill its LCFF accountability duties and has the potential to impact the LCFF implementation throughout the state.

On June 14, 2021, The CDE issued an historic decision finding that the SBCOE improperly approved school district spending plans that shorted high-needs students the equivalent of more than $166 million dollars in services. The decision is the first in California to hold a county office of education  accountable for its duties to oversee school districts under the Local Control Funding Formula, California’s education funding law. The decision is summarized in a press release here. We are now continuing our advocacy to ensure that SBCOE complies with CDE’s ruling.

At a time when schools and their communities are facing unprecedented challenges—a pandemic, an arduous re-opening process, and elevated calls to address anti-Blackness and structural racism in schools—more than 90,000 high need students in San Bernardino are allegedly being cheated out of three-quarters of the increased and improved services owed to them under state law. Perversely, millions of dollars in funds earmarked for high-need students of color are diverted to fund law enforcement that harms the very students these funds are designed to support.

The complaint alleges that the county education officials violated their oversight and accountability obligations under the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), California’s school funding law, by approving egregiously deficient 2019-20 school spending plans known as LCAPs within SBCOE’s jurisdiction. It is the first complaint filed under the 2013 LCFF law directly and solely against a county office of education for widespread deficient oversight of district spending.

The complaint was filed on behalf of the Inland Congregations United for Change (ICUC), a non-profit comprising 63 interfaith congregations representing over 60,000 families in San Bernardino and the Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE), a non-profit dedicated to training and developing the capacity of religious and lay leaders in congregations across the Inland Empire.