LOS ANGELES - A San Francisco judge finalized the historic settlement in Williams v. California today. The lawsuit is a critical first step toward ensuring all California public schools have the means to provide equitable learning conditions for all students.

Judge Peter J. Busch commended all parties involved in the case and said it was "valiantly fought."

"I hope it ended up, as I believe it has, to be a benefit for the state and the schools and I hope this is beginning of better days (for public education)," Busch said.

The Williams lawsuit, originally filed in May of 2000, charged the state with reneging on its constitutional obligation to provide students with the bare essentials necessary for education: sufficient instructional materials, adequate learning facilities and qualified teachers.

"This is the final judgment in a truly historic case," said Catherine Lhamon, an attorney for the ACLU of Southern California. "The courage of the students involved will lead to tremendous improvements in our public schools. It is an invaluable first step to improving the educational system in California."

Both the lead plaintiff Eli Williams, who is now a senior at Balboa High School in San Francisco, and his father stood by as the judge finalized the settlement.

"It's an honor to be part of this," said Pastor Sweetie Williams, the plaintiff's father. "After seeing the conditions in my son's school I decided to get involved and it's about time we take a real solution to a real problem."

The settlement also takes steps toward assuring students have qualified teachers and it holds schools accountable for delivering these fundamental elements to students. Additional funding was established to begin to accomplish these goals including: $800 million over four years to make emergency repairs in the lowest performing schools (those ranked in the bottom 3 deciles under the statewide Academic Performance Index [API]); nearly $139 million for new instructional materials for students attending schools in the bottom two API deciles; $20 million to inventory facilities needs in the lowest performing schools and $30 million to build County Superintendents' capacity to oversee low performing schools and fund emergency repairs in those schools next year.

Today's decision is a landmark for the law and an important development for the entire nation.

With plain but compelling logic, the judge has shown us all why in a nation committed to fairness, gays and lesbians must not be shut out of marriage. But this decision is most important to the thousands of same-sex couples who desperately need the protection that marriage gives, and who deserve the dignity it brings.

Gays and lesbians are our firefighters, teachers, doctors and neighbors and they deserve the same rights and protections as other Americans. Our constitution promises liberty to all; this decision takes us a step closer to that promise.

LOS ANGELES - In a strongly-worded letter, the ACLU of Southern California along with the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Gay-Straight Alliance Network and other members of the California Safe Schools Coalition demanded that an Orange County high school student be reinstated as editor-in-chief of her school newspaper and that her record be wiped clean.

Ann Long, a senior at Troy High School in Fullerton and former editor-in-chief of her school newspaper, was removed from her position in January after publishing an article about the experiences of three gay students at Troy.

Long was shocked her article caused her to be removed from her post.

"I got the approval of my journalism adviser, I checked my facts, and all the students agreed to tell their stories in this article," said Long, who is an honors student. "I thought this was an important issue, and so did my sources, to discuss in the school newspaper because it promotes tolerance and understanding."

School and district officials gave conflicting reasons for the decision to end Long's term as editor-in-chief. A vice principal told Long she "should have known" to get parental permission before publishing the students' stories, but according to the state attorney general such permission is not required. A school district official claimed Long violated a state law requiring parental permission for school surveys that ask students about their personal beliefs about sexual behavior or family life. The law cited, however, has no relevance to Long's article.

A school principal also charged Long with disobeying her adviser's orders to get parental permission and lying about it. Long insists she was never asked to get such permission.

"Students may not be punished solely for expression that is constitutionally protected if it happens outside the school gates," said Ranjana Natarajan, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California. "A school can't punish a student just because it may not agree with her article's content."

Members of the California Safe Schools Coalition, a statewide partnership of organizations committed to eliminating discrimination and harassment on the basis of sexual orientation in schools, are supporting Long and her right and the rights of the students featured in her article to tell their stories.

"School administrators are required by state and federal law to protect the safety of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students," said Molly O'Shaughnessy, Director of the California Safe Schools Coalition. "By punishing a student simply for writing a newspaper article that deals responsibly with sexual orientation, they are perpetuating a climate of fear and silence for LGBT students."