California Settles Suit Over Public School Fees
(KCBS) - The state quickly settled a suit to stop public schools from charging students extra for basics such as books, exams and lab materials that fall under the state's constitutional guarantee to a free education.
The suit by the American Civil Liberties Union challenged a longstanding but sporadic practice of requiring families to give extra money for both mandatory and extracurricular activities such as sports teams and music programs.
"We probably have seen a spike as schools are looking for every possible set of resources, but it's simply just inappropriate and fundamentally just unconstitutional for them to look to parents and students to have to pay simply to participate in classes and educational activities," said Brooks Allen, the ACLU's director of education advocacy.
KCBS' Doug Sovern Reports:
Allen said in some cases low-income students sometimes faced ridicule from their peers for not contributing to a program, and in some cases pressure during exams to make sure exam books had been paid for.
The settlement does not block parents' organizations from fundraising, or prevent schools from accepting voluntary donations.
The state school board agreed to stop the fees, and institute annual audits so parents can be reimbursed by any school that charges them.
Governor Schwarzenegger reached a settlement just three months after the ACLU exposed the problem.
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