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Lassen County Times: Court declines to pause school facility funds; constitutional challenge to California’s discriminatory system moves forward to trial

July 9, 2026—Public Advocates’ statement on the court’s decision to allow continued distribution of Prop 2 school modernization funds ran today on LassenNews.com, covering the latest development in Rodriguez v. State of California — our constitutional challenge to the state’s discriminatory school facilities funding formula.

The court declined to freeze the roughly $3 billion in funds while the case proceeds, but acknowledged Public Advocates has raised “serious questions” about the formula’s constitutionality — questions that will be tested at trial, potentially as soon as March 2027. “The state hasn’t been able to refute 25 years of data showing low-wealth districts are short-changed by its capital finance system,” said John Affeldt, Managing Attorney at Public Advocates.

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