Court Cases Education

LOS ANGELES – Adelanto Elementary School District board members voted earlier this week to switch from an at-large election system to a single-member system in response to a letter from MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) warning that the district was in violation of the California Voting Rights Act (CVRA).

BAKERSFIELD, Ca.  – A coalition of Latino and Black students, their parents, community groups and the Kern County Office of Education (KCOE) have reached a settlement of a lawsuit involving a dispute over the enrollment of students in KCOE-operated schools.

TUCSON, AZ – A federal court of appeals should dismiss a request by Tucson education officials to end a decades-long desegregation case because the district failed to make that request in the lower court, according to a motion filed today by Latino students.

LOS ANGELES — The New Mexico Public Education Department has publicly stated that it intends to appeal a court ruling that the state has failed to live up to its constitutional obligation to provide a sufficient education to all students and must implement a remedial plan by next April. Please attribute the following statement to Thomas A. Saenz, president and general counsel of MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund):

Santa Fe, NM – A state court ruled today that New Mexico’s education system violates the state constitution because it fails to provide students a sufficient public education.

Sacramento, CA – In a ruling that recognizes the critical right of all parents to participate in their children’s education, a federal court today rejected Gustine, California school officials’ attempt to dismiss a Latina mother’s lawsuit challenging the school principal’s decision to ban her from campus after she sought to protect her son’s education. The court held that banning parents from school cannot be done in retaliation for exercise of free-speech rights. It further held that, under California law, no parental ban can extend beyond two weeks without providing the parent as chance at a hearing to contest the legitimacy of the ban.

Santa Fe, NM – Attorneys from MALDEF (Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund) and the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty (the Center) have filed closing briefs for their consolidated lawsuit (Martinez v. State of New Mexico and Yazzie v. State of New Mexico) against the State of New Mexico for its failure to provide all public school students a sufficient education as mandated by the New Mexico Constitution.

Bakersfield, CA – Latino and Black students enrolled in the Kern High School District, together with their parents and community activist organizations Dolores Huerta Foundation, National Brotherhood Association, and Faith in Kern, obtained a historic settlement in their challenge to discriminatory practices.