March 17, 2026 — EdSource reporter Diana Lambert covered Monday’s appellate hearing in Cleare v. WCCUSD — the first case ever brought to enforce California’s Williams Act guarantee of a credentialed teacher in every classroom. West Contra Costa Unified has spent years flouting that promise, openly staffing its highest-poverty schools with rotating uncredentialed substitutes — hitting a record 140 district-wide at one point. Managing attorney John Affeldt told the court that in 22 years since Williams was settled, no district had ever claimed it was impossible to comply — until now. The appellate justices weren’t buying it, pressing WCCUSD’s attorney on why classrooms were still led by uncredentialed teachers when the case went to court. A ruling is expected within 90 days. If WCCUSD gets away with this, districts across California will take note — and a two-decade promise to the state’s most vulnerable students becomes meaningless.

Read the Ed Source coverage.