With the California state budget in free-fall, why can’t the “Governator” charge students for AP classes?
Gina Umpstead on Sunday, September 12, 2010 at 9:24PM This week the ACLU filed a lawsuit against Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California, alleging that public schools are denying students the free education guaranteed by the state constitution by forcing their families to pay fees to participate in certain classes. The lawsuit alleges that it is a common practice for California public schools to charge students for workbooks, textbooks, and even novels that are required reading in their courses.
The lawsuit takes specific aim at charging students for participation in Advanced Placement (AP) courses to cover the College Board fee to take the AP test at the end of the course. It should be noted that passing the course’s AP exam is required for the course to count for college credit; however, it is the school’s decision whether to credit the high school transcript for coursework if the student does not take the exam. Since state education policy requires students to pay for and take the exam as part of course completion, the ALCU alleges that students from low socio-economic backgrounds are further disadvantaged academically because of the required fees.
In California, students can still participate in courses without paying the fees, but the school does not provide the books for students who do not pay for them. The lawsuit argues that California’s policy forces low income students to either not take the classes with fees or participate in the courses without the required textbooks, workbooks or novels, which is an inherent disadvantage. The ACLU complaint also notes an instance where one student was humiliated in class by having her name written on the board for not paying for her course materials.
In a twist that appeals to the jurisprudence of adequacy funding in education, the lawsuit contends that students who cannot afford the school fees are being denied their fundamental right to basic educational equality that is guaranteed by the California Constitution. The ACLU is asking that the court enjoin the schools from charging the illegal fees.
Here is a link to the ALCU website that contains the complaint:
