Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1544915
T H E F I R S T - E V E R lawsuit filed to enforce the landmark 2004 Williams v. California settlement resulted in a victory for stu- dents, parents and educators in West Contra Costa County in late March. In Cleare v. West Contra Costa Unified School District, the California First District Court of Appeal found that WCCUSD failed to carry its burden of demonstrating it had exhausted all available options to fill teacher vacancies. The Williams guarantee, of a qualified teacher in every classroom, remains the law. The ruling reverses a 2024 Contra Costa Superior Court decision that had excused the district's illegal staffing prac- tices on the grounds that a statewide teacher shortage made compliance "impossible." The appeals court rejected that reasoning, making clear that districts must show they have done everything available to them before claiming they can- not comply with the law. " The WCCUSD community has faced negligence for too long," said Sam Cleare, lead plaintiff, United Teachers of Richmond (UTR) organizing chair and educator in WCCUSD. "By breaking the law, the district has stolen educational opportunities for thousands of children. This is a crucial step to holding our district leadership accountable and providing every child everywhere with an educator in the classroom." The Williams v. California settlement requires the state to ensure all public school students have equal access to instructional materials, safe/clean facilities, and qualified teachers. It resulted in nearly $1 billion in funding for school repairs and materials and established a formal complaint process for deficiencies. Cleare v. WCCUSD was filed in July 2024 by civil rights law firm Public Advocates, a lead counsel on the Williams case, and pro bono counsel Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, on behalf of six educators, parents and staff at Stege Elementary, Helms Middle and John F. Kennedy High schools. Students at these schools — who are disproportionately Black, Latinx and from lower-income families — had endured years of rotating, uncertified substitutes while WCCUSD Qualified Teachers in Every Classroom Legal victory in West Contra Costa County upholds landmark case UTR members went on strike to demand fully staffed schools, among other things. 45 S P R I N G 2 0 26 Advocacy UTR Organizing Chair and lead plaintiff Sam Cleare