October 24, 2025—EdSource’s John Fensterwald spoke with managing attorney John Affeldt as well as plaintiffs and educators from across the state to cover Public Advocates’ lawsuit. The challenge against California’s School Facility Program, charges that the program perpetuates vast inequalities for students in low-wealth communities. The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court, seeks a complete overhaul of the program’s formula for distributing funds for renovating school buildings and features seventeen plaintiffs including students, parents, teachers, and organizations from disadvantaged districts throughout the state.

“The California Constitution promises every student a safe, clean, and equitable education. That includes the buildings we learn in. Right now, that promise is being broken for students like me and thousands of others across the state,” said lead plaintiff Miliani Rodriguez, a senior at Coachella Valley High School.

Affeldt connected the lawsuit to California’s landmark Serrano v. Priest case from 50 years ago: “It is district wealth, not student need, that too often dictates whether students have access to safe, functional facilities.”

The Center for Cities + Schools at UC Berkeley found that districts with the most assessed value per student received two and a half times more state funding than the poorest districts, concluding that “Equitable funding to modernize school facilities is the great unfinished work of the State’s school finance revolution.”

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