July 23, 2024—East Bay Times (owned by the San Jose Mercury News) reporter Katie Lauer spoke with Public Advocates’ Law Fellow Karissa Provenza about the lawsuit Public Advocates filed with co-counsel Munger, Tolles & Olsen on behalf of five petitioners (educators, parents and students) against West Contra Costa Unified School District’s (WCCUSD) for failing to address staffing and facility issues from 50 Williams complaints across schools in the district (even while acknowledging unlawful practices). This is the first case filed after the Williams vs. California settlement in 2004, which led to new legislation establishing standards and accountability measures for educational resources and funding.
“The district has completely disregarded the process every step of the way,” Provenza said in an interview. “The district needs to change, because it creates a cycle of vacancies and higher turnover of teachers when they have to constantly cover classrooms and students. On top of that burnout, these environments are physically unhealthy and often unsafe in many instances. … This is a systemic failure.”
