Education Equity
Creating an education system built for all of us.
What is Education Equity?
Education Equity is An Education System Built For All Students
Our education equity team works to support and shape public schools so that all students—regardless of race, ethnicity, immigration status, economic status, or where they were born—can succeed. A just education system, from our state’s public schools through its colleges and universities, provides all students with the knowledge and skills they need to prosper economically, engage effectively in civic affairs and embrace the diversity of our state. When students achieve their potential, they thrive, and California thrives.
For too long, many public schools and colleges have not fully served, or even harmed, students and families of color. To confront this legacy of harm, impacted students, families, educators and communities must work together to shape the future of public education. By meeting the needs of students who have been ignored, we can resolve long standing injustice and provide a quality education and promising future for every student.
To drive California’s education system toward this vision of racial and social justice, our Education Equity team advocates for:
Fully adequate and equitable resources for all students, with particular attention to historically marginalized students
A fully-prepared educator workforce–the single most impactful in-school resource–that also reflects the diversity of the student population
A robust and transparent accountability system that ensures both system resources and student outcomes are continuously improving toward a state of justice
The development and expression of community power in historically marginalized communities to shape the equitable and just education system they deserve
A network of K-12 community schools that serve as powerful on-the-ground exemplars of educational justice delivered
Areas of Work
We work on issues that impact students throughout their educational journey, using our these priorities to guide this work:
Litigation and enforcement TIMELINE
Public Advocates litigated three seminal cases that shifted California’s public school funding from district-based to state-based, reducing wealth-based funding disparities between districts. Issue: Education Topic:…
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When Governor Gray Davis called to impose “tough” new accountability measures including a punitive high school exit exam, our advocacy led to the creation of…
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Public Advocates and our partners sued the State of California in a fight for students’ rights to basic resources, including teachers, textbooks, and clean and…
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Each parent should be able to find out how much their child’s school spends per student compared to other schools. In 2005, Public Advocates helped…
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Working with community leaders, we advocated for the creation of the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), an educational finance system that works to ensure funds…
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LAUSD, using a loophole, improperly double-counted hundreds of millions of dollars of special education expenses. The California Department of Education agreed and ordered a halt…
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LBUSD was misspending more than $40 million in LCFF supplemental and concentration funds. Public Advocates and our partners took action and won a settlement to…
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Alongside parents and students, Public Advocates fought to have WCCUSD release data on student outcomes that would allow community members to hold the district accountable…
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After a strong Public Advocates campaign, the Community Engagement Initiative was established to ensure community voices are heard and considered by their school districts. In…
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Public Advocates filed a complaint on behalf of Los Angeles parents Elvira Velasco and Ana Carrion against LAUSD because its LCAP was not transparent to…
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Public Advocates campaigned for Assembly Bill 1219 (the “Teacher Credentialing Act”) which established the California State Assignment Accountability System (CalSAAs) in 2019, which was followed…
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Public Advocates and ACLU Southern California filed a complaint against the San Bernardino County Superintendent and Office of Education alleging that more than $300 million…
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We won $3 billion in state funds to establish and expand the bold experiment around creating and sustaining racially just community schools—where stakeholders including students,…
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Following school closures, lost instructional time, the social-emotional impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and uprisings against racism, Public Advocates worked urgently to reimagine our education…
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Public Advocates filed a Williams complaint with the San Francisco Unified School District to address Marina Middle School’s failure to provide students with the qualified…
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On October 23, 2025, Public Advocates and pro bono counsel Morrison Foerster, filed a landmark constitutional challenge on behalf of students, families, and educators against…
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Priority Coalitions
Our advocates in Sacramento, the Bay Area, and Los Angeles partner with students, families, educators, and community partners across the state to advance education equity.
California Affordable Student Housing Coalition
The CASH Coalition brings together higher education advocates, civil rights and student-led organizations to advocate for solutions to end student housing insecurity and homelessness.
learn moreCalifornia Partnership for the Future of Learning
The California Partnership for the Future of Learning (CA PFL) is a statewide alliance of community organizing and advocacy groups advancing a shared vision of a transformational, racially just education system built for us all. Public Advocates is one of four anchor organizations leading the CA Partnership.
Learn MoreLocal Control Funding Formula Equity Coalition
Public Advocates plays a leading role in the LCFF Equity Coalition, which is a coalition of civil rights, advocacy, community, family, student, educator and other organizations working to implement and improve the state’s Local Control Funding Formula and focus resources on closing opportunity and achievement gaps.
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