California has agreed to designate at least $2 billion to help disadvantaged students who fell behind in their learning during the COVID-19 lockdowns, according to a recent legal settlement.
“The urgent vision of this historic settlement is not just to recoup the academic losses suffered by California’s most disadvantaged students, but to erase the opportunity gaps altogether exacerbated by the pandemic,” he said.
“This is a victory of partnership of students, caregivers, and community organizations with California’s leadership that recognizes that educational opportunity is the state’s greatest natural resource,” Mr. Rosenbaum added.
As part of the settlement, the CDE has agreed to propose a law allowing funds to be spent on community organizations with a proven track record of improving student success. The programs must serve students identified using a data-driven process incorporating academic performance in math and English language arts.
Going forward, school districts will receive funding proportionately to their respective enrollments of high-needs populations, such as low-income students. State legislators will also direct schools and districts to spend part of the $2 billion funding on interventions with previous records of success, such as in-school tutoring.
Ongoing Legal Battle
Initially filed in 2020, Cayla J. v. the State of California argued that state officials bungled the transition to remote learning following the extended lockdowns and failed to mitigate most students’ learning loss. Fifteen students across Oakland and Los Angeles and a pair of community organizations originally brought the case against the state superintendent, the state board, and the CDE.According to the lawsuit, the plaintiffs claim they only received a few days of live teaching after their schools were shuttered in the spring of 2020. By the fall, school days consisted of less than two hours of instruction split up in the morning and afternoon. Limited access to high-speed internet and equipment such as laptops meant that for many, very little schooling took place during those months.