FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 16, 2025

Media Contact: Sumeet Bal, Director of Communications, 917.647.1952, [email protected]

Court Ruling Allows WCCUSD to Use Unlicensed Teachers

Advocates For Students Plan to Appeal  

SAN FRANCISCO—Today, in a setback for students and families attending the West Contra Costa Unified School District, the Contra Costa Superior Court refused to alter its earlier ruling permitting WCCUSD to staff its classrooms with unqualified personnel in direct contradiction with state teacher certification laws and minimum teacher standards established by the Williams v. California legal settlement. The court rejected a thoroughly documented motion for a new trial filed by civil rights law firm Public Advocates and pro bono counsel Munger, Tolles & Olson, despite compelling evidence of the district’s legal violations and its misrepresentations to the court that it had no other options to comply.

By allowing WCCUSD to ignore state certification requirements with impunity, the court has created a dangerous precedent that threatens to undermine teacher quality standards across California, potentially relegating students in underserved communities to second-class educational experiences for years to come.

“We cannot let this terrible precedent stand and we plan to appeal,” said John Affeldt, Managing Attorney and Director of Education Equity at Public Advocates. “First the district and now the Superior Court have ignored the legal mandate that every classroom be permanently staffed with at least a minimally-certified teacher. Even in a time of teacher shortages, the district must use all options to staff its classrooms with available fully-certified staff or provisionally-certified interns, permits or state-approved waivers. West Contra has dozens of staff available to fill the five vacancies at Stege, Helms and Kennedy. It’s simply unconscionable to give the district a pass on the state’s basic teacher standard owed to all students.”

This ruling effectively sanctions WCCUSD’s continued placement of caretakers with 30-day substitute permits into permanent, year-long teaching positions. Substitutes lack the subject matter and pedagogical training—and thus the state authorization—to teach any class for an entire year. The impact of the court ruling extends far beyond legal technicalities—it actively denies students their right to qualified teachers, overburdens legitimate teachers forced to compensate for under-trained colleagues, and betrays parents who entrusted the district with their children’s education.

“I’m disappointed, saddened, and exhausted,” said Jeremiah Romm, educator and petitioner, in response to the Court’s ruling. “It is the district’s responsibility to ensure that every child has a qualified teacher in each of their classrooms. If we aren’t committing to this right—if the district is not held to this standard—then we don’t really believe it’s a right, and I don’t know what we stand for or why I’m even here. The failure to adequately protect this right is driving students, families and educators out of West Contra Costa.”

The original lawsuit, filed in July 2024 under the landmark Williams v. California settlement was forced by the district’s blatant refusal to address formal complaints from January 2024 regarding unqualified teachers and dangerous facility conditions in schools serving the district’s most vulnerable students—predominantly low-income students, Black and Latino students, and multilingual learners.

“It is disheartening to know that WCCUSD is not being held accountable for their neglect of our students and schools,” said Cristina Huerta, educator and petitioner. “Richmond students deserve to have fully staffed schools with certified teachers.”

Public Advocates presented damning declarations from authoritative education leaders, including Dr. Mary Vixie Sandy, Executive Director of the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, who explicitly confirmed that districts “have no authority to unilaterally ignore certification requirements” and that it would create chaos across the state to suggest they could. Mark Mitchell, Executive Director for the United Teachers of Richmond, directly contradicted the district’s courtroom claims, revealing that no contractual barriers prevent WCCUSD from properly staffing classrooms at Stege, Helms and Kennedy schools with qualified teachers from among staff currently serving in non-teaching and administrative positions. Just in the last few months, the district transferred 21 fully-certified teachers to fill existing vacancies and had planned, but halted, plans for 19 more.

“Twenty years after the Williams settlement established minimum standards for California schools, this court has effectively told low-income Black and Latinx students in West Contra Costa that these standards don’t apply to them,” said Karissa Provenza, Staff Attorney at Public Advocates. “The message is clear – that West Contra Costa  students don’t deserve the same quality education as students in wealthier districts or even as students at wealthier schools within West Contra Costa.”

“We are deeply disappointed in the Court’s decision to deny a new trial in the fight for fully staffed classrooms at Stege, Helms, and Kennedy,” said Francisco Ortiz, President of the United Teachers of Richmond. “Our commitment to advocating for stable, well-supported public schools—especially for students most impacted by systemic neglect—remains unwavering.” 

###

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.