LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California filed a lawsuit today on behalf of pregnant and parenting teens who were funneled into sub-standard alternative education programs instead of being given the opportunity to continue their education at their local high schools. The suit names the Antelope Valley Union High School District and the Los Angeles County Office of Education as defendants and alleges violations under state and federal law, including Title IX.

"This school district has essentially coerced pregnant and parenting teens into leaving their local comprehensive public high school," said Soly Perez, Equal Justice Works Fellow with the ACLU of Southern California. "Instead of providing these students with the opportunity to continue receiving the best education possible, administrators presented students with what amounts to a false choice between child care for their children and receiving a quality education. These students here today want nothing more than to attend regular high school without losing critical support services."

In response to the large number of pregnant and parenting teens dropping out of school, in 1998, the California legislature passed a law creating a program designed to provide pregnant and parenting students with support services necessary to stay in school. This program is known as the California School Age Families Program, or Cal-SAFE. Cal-SAFE provides students with services such as child care and parenting and life skills instruction. By enrolling in Cal-SAFE students cannot be denied the right to take classes in their regular high school. The law gives students the option of enrolling in Cal-SAFE while continuing to take classes at their local high school.

"At my school we don't have the option of participating in the Cal-SAFE program while being enrolled in regular school courses," said Cecilia [not her real name], an Antelope Valley High School junior. "We are being asked to choose between day care for our children and receiving a good education."

"I would like to continue taking the college preparatory courses that I was taking before my daughter was born," she added. "That won't be possible under the way the program is currently being run."

"In California, about 60,000 teens give birth each year," said Nancy Solomon, senior staff attorney at the California Women's Law Center. "Teen child bearing generally leads to poor life outcomes for both mother and child, continuing a pattern of teen pregnancy, lack of education, and poverty. Completing high school is the first step in breaking this cycle and this lawsuit should be a wake-up call to school districts that they cannot deny pregnant and parenting students their rights without consequences."

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California today sent a letter to the Beverly Hills City Council and Mayor asking that the City respect the rights of petition gatherers engaged in a campaign to bring a referendum on a luxury hotel project before the City's voters.

"We are concerned about reports that the City may be intimidating signature gatherers or at the least, making it very difficult for them to exercise their constitutional rights," said Peter Eliasberg, Managing Attorney and Manheim Family Attorney for First Amendment Rights with the ACLU of Southern California.

Beverly Hills residents and merchants opposed to a proposed $200 million luxury hotel have been engaged in a signature gathering campaign to place the issue before the voters in a special election. The hotel project was approved by the City, a joint developer in the project.

Petition gatherers have complained about some of the tactics used by the City to prevent them from gathering signatures.

In a letter to the Mayor and City Council the ACLU/SC cited an incident at the Beverly Hills Farmers Market, which is located on a public street, and is therefore considered a public forum, in which Beverly Hills police officers ejected petition gatherers by citing a Municipal Ordinance that does not apply to public forums. In a separate incident the Beverly Hills Courier quoted a Beverly Hills police Lieutenant as stating that residents who are approached by signature gatherers after 5PM could call the police about violations of the Beverly Hills Municipal Code Section 4-4 803 - the ACLU/SC has determined that the code section does not in fact apply to signature gatherers.

"These actions create, at a minimum, the appearance of partiality on behalf of the government with respect to this issue of public concern," said Peter Eliasberg in the letter. "That appearance is particularly harmful since Beverly Hills is a partner in the public-private venture that would be the subject of the referendum."

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union and the State of California today announced they had reached a settlement agreement in the class action education lawsuit Williams v. California. The suit was filed by the ACLU, the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), Public Advocates, Inc. and other groups on behalf of California students who attended substandard schools in California.

"This is a watershed moment for public education in California," said Mark Rosenbaum, legal director of the ACLU of Southern California. "With this settlement, Governor Schwarzenegger has held California accountable for assuring equal educational opportunity for all of its children, ending decades of neglect and indifference. Equally important, it sets standards for access to books, teachers and clean and safe facilities and holds districts accountable for meeting those standards in our lowest performing schools."

"Fifty years after Brown, the dream will no longer be deferred," he continued.

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, qualified teachers, etc. Then-governor Gray Davis decided to fight the suit and retained a private law firm to litigate the case, costing tax-payers at least $18 million.

The settlement requires that all students have books and that their schools be clean and safe. It takes steps toward assuring they have qualified teachers and it holds schools accountable for delivering these fundamental elements to students. It provides nearly $1 billion to accomplish these goals: $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.

The settlement requires legislation to:

' Provide financial assistance to repair low performing schools through a new $800 million School Facilities Emergency Repairs Account;

' Create new standards for instructional materials and facilities, and require the Concept 6 (shortened school year) calendar to be eliminated by 2012.

' Post instructional materials and facilities standards in all classrooms;

' Collect data on compliance with these standards, and teacher requirements;

' Verify this data;

' Intervene in decile 1-3 schools if the instructional materials and facilities standards are no met, and in any district having difficulty attracting, retaining or properly assigning teachers;

' Improve the teacher supply by streamlining requirements for out-of-state credentialed teachers to earn California credentials;

' Create a School Facilities Needs Assessment program;

' Require each district to implement a facilities inspection system; and

' Include new schools in the High Priority Schools Grant Program when current schools are phased out.

"We became involved in this case because conditions at my son Eli's school were dismal and unacceptable," said Sweetie Williams, father of Eli Williams, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. "When I saw the education my son was receiving I became very concerned about my son's future and wanted to do something. Being part of this case has shown me that it only takes one person to stand up when there are good people standing behind you."

"I couldn't be happier about this settlement," he continued.

"I have been privileged to represent in this case some of the strongest champions of social justice I will ever meet: students who know they and their siblings and peers deserve better and who were willing to stand up for themselves and for others."

"This historic agreement would not have been possible without the Governor's commitment and leadership on this issue," said Ramona Ripston, executive director of the ACLU of Southern California. "This settlement will bring real results to the millions of school children in California who are not being given a fair shot at a decent education."