Category Archives: Williams Act

SCOE/Supes talk schools audit, CIP – The Vacaville Reporter

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By Nick McConnell

The Solano County Office of Education presented an update on the Williams Case audit information to the Solano County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Nicola Parr, Solano County Superintendent of Schools, presented on the audit to the board. Parr said she is newly appointed to the position and is happy to serve in the role.

The Williams case was a class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco County Superior Court in 2000, in which hundreds of students filed suit against public agencies for failing to provide equal access to education in 46 schools across the state. The 2004 settlement led to new state laws stipulating minimum levels of service and treatment for students, parents, and local educators and Parr explained that her presentation is an annual informational item required by the California Education Code.

Source: Supes talk schools audit, CIP – The Vacaville Reporter

Solano supervisors to get ‘State of the Schools’ report – Daily Republic

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By Todd R. Hansen

Solano County Superintendent of Schools Jay Speck is scheduled to give his “State of the Schools” report to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.

The report is actually a legislative requirement that is the result of the Williams Case Settlement, a class action suit filed in San Francisco against the state in 2000.

Settled in 2004, the state allocated $138 million more for educational materials to certain qualifying schools, plus additional funding for oversight and facility repairs. The Legislature then required each county office of education to complete reports on the areas of concern in the lawsuit.

Source: Solano supervisors to get ‘State of the Schools’ report

California Watch: K–12: State reported inflated rate of teachers lacking credentials

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Joanna Lin

The rate was startling: Nearly six in 10 teachers at California’s lowest-performing schools were not properly credentialed for the classes they led. It’s a rate California has worked to shrink for the past six years. It’s also a rate that was wrong.

The percentage of teachers and other certificated staff lacking proper credentials was actually 29 percent, not the 58 percent the state reported for the 2005-06 school year. The revelation, sparked by errors in state data identified by California Watch, means the state has been using an incorrect baseline as it measures progress at its lowest-performing schools.

Misassignments, as they’re known, have decreased dramatically since the state agreed to give the problem greater attention at low-performing schools. Unlike higher-performing schools, which are monitored every four years, the lowest-performing schools are monitored annually. The action was one of many stemming from the settlement of Williams v. California, a landmark class-action lawsuit that sought to ensure all students were taught by qualified, credentialed teachers.

via State reported inflated rate of teachers lacking credentials.