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Ed source: Equity advocates to ask California court to suspend billions in school construction funding
May 22, 2026—EdSource reporter John Fensterwald covers Public Advocates’ request for a preliminary injunction in M. Rodriguez v. State of California, which asks an Alameda County Superior Court judge to freeze more than $3 billion in state school modernization funding until the court has ruled on the merits. The lawsuit argues that the state’s matching program systematically shortchanges low-wealth districts — leaving students in crumbling buildings while wealthy districts attend schools that look like college campuses.
“I would love for state officials to come see where our students are going to school every day and the conditions for our staff, too,” said Amy Campbell-Blair, an organizer for plaintiff True North Organizing Network, describing chipped floors and mold when it rains. “The amount of money to update and make sure everything was up to where it needed to be is in the hundreds of millions of dollars.”
Without an injunction, those inequities may be locked in for years. The hearing is set for May 27 in Oakland.