FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 19, 2024
Media Contact: Sumeet Bal, Public Advocates Director of Communications,
Civil Rights Law Firm Files Lawsuit Against WCCUSD
District inaction to address staffing and facility deficiencies across schools, continues to fail low-income, African American students, and multilingual learners
SAN FRANCISCO–Today Public Advocates, a civil rights law firm, and pro bono counsel Munger, Tolles & Olson, filed a lawsuit on behalf of six educators, staff and parents, against the West Contra Costa Unified School District for failing to address staffing and facility issues in schools across the district, violating the rights of their students—low-income, Black, and multilingual learners—who are guaranteed the basic tools necessary for a quality education.
“My son is a rising fifth grader at Stege Elementary and he has not been set up for success,” said Stege Elementary parent and alum, Darrell Washington. “Last year he had two or three different teachers. It felt like a chaotic game of musical chairs. This system is not supportive for my child or any child at Stege. As a community activist, I want to raise awareness about what is happening at the school not just for my son, but because it is a disservice to all of our children.”
This is the first lawsuit brought under the landmark Williams v. California settlement against a district to enforce the rights of educational stakeholders. That suit, which Public Advocates won with co-counsel in 2004, established the right to textbooks, clean, safe functional schools, and qualified teachers for all California public school students. The settlement also created a new administrative process that enables community members (families, students, and teachers) to safeguard those protections by filing an administrative complaint with school personnel (“Williams complaints”) and requiring a remedy within 30 days and a response within 45 days.
In June 2023, petitioners collected and submitted nearly 50 Williams complaints to address facility issues at Stege Elementary, including opaque and inoperable windows, broken floor tiles, and mold infested walls. Six months later, in January 2024, Public Advocates filed three Williams complaints to address teacher vacancies at Stege Elementary, Helms Middle, and Kennedy High School. The district failed to properly resolve any of these complaints within the legally required 30 day timeline, subjecting students and staff to unhealthy and unsafe learning conditions and denying students the right to a stable and fully prepared teacher for most of the school year.
“Instead of pursuing one of the many legislatively authorized options to fill core classroom vacancies, WCCUSD has relied on “rolling subs,” unauthorized long-term substitutes, or daily shifting teachers, which resulted in classroom chaos and learning loss for students at three of the highest need schools in the district. Students are entitled to permanent, legally authorized teachers in a school that is clean and safe,” said Karissa Provenza, Law Fellow at Public Advocates, and lead attorney on the lawsuit. “The vacancies at Stege Elementary, Helms Middle, and John F. Kennedy High School, alongside the egregious facility conditions at Stege, highlights the district’s broad failures to provide their highest need students the stability and support they deserve.”
“By failing to uphold its mandate to address poor facilities conditions and teacher vacancies, the District creates a vicious cycle,” said co-counsel Dane Shikman from Munger, Tolles, & Olson. “Teachers leave or don’t apply for a position, in part, because of poor facilities at the school. And resulting teacher vacancies drive down student performance and attendance, causing stakeholders—including District administrators—to lose confidence and reduce investment in the school and its facilities. This suit is intended to break that cycle, so that WCCUSD students have a fighting chance to succeed in school.”
The compounding issues of poor facility conditions and teacher vacancies are undermining instructional quality for students and placing additional burdens on educators throughout the district, resulting in retention concerns in a district that already has a lower than average percentage of fully prepared teachers. Research shows that teachers are the most important predictor of a student’s success in school. Having more experienced teachers increases success for Black and Latinx students.
“For marginalized students who come from high-trauma backgrounds, having a sense of stability is extremely important for their academic success. What I’ve seen with the vacancies is that my students have lost hope in the educational system to provide them with a better future,” said Raka Ray, a biology teacher at Kennedy High School. “They are less engaged in school, less intellectually curious, less likely to take risks in learning, less likely to engage with their peers, more likely to skip class, more likely to get into fights, and much more likely to be addicted to their phones for the temporary dopamine rush and sense of escape”.
The petitioners in the case are seeking a court order to compel WCCUSD to immediately remedy these violations, respond to complainants, and finally provide students with the safe and healthy school environment to which they are entitled.
“Ensuring that teachers are integral parts of our school communities is the key to unlocking the academic success of Black students—both locally and statewide.” said Zelon Harrison, a Black parent leader and advocate in the WCCUSD community. “Retaining and attracting dedicated educators is our commitment to building a brighter future for our children.”
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Public Advocates Inc. is a nonprofit law firm and advocacy organization that challenges the systemic causes of poverty and racial discrimination by strengthening community voices in public policy and achieving tangible legal victories advancing education, housing, transportation equity, and climate justice.
