Failing students suing California

SAN DIEGO — A group of lawyers representing students and teachers from poor performing schools sued California on Tuesday, arguing that the state has done nothing about a high number of schoolchildren who do not know how to read.

The advocacy law firm Public Counsel filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court to demand the California Department of Education address its “literacy crisis.” The state has not followed suggestions from its own report on the problem five years ago, the lawsuit said.

“When it comes to literacy and the delivery of basic education, California is dragging down the nation,” said Public Counsel lawyer Mark Rosenbaum, who sued along with the law firm Morrison & Foerster.

Department of Education spokesman Bill Ainsworth said officials could not comment because the state had not yet been served with the lawsuit.

English assessments found less than half of California students from third grade to fifth grade have met statewide literacy standards since 2015. Both traditional and charter schools are failing, Rosenbaum said.

Of the 26 lowest-performing districts in the nation, 11 are in California, according to the lawsuit.

Among the plaintiffs are current and former teachers and students from three of California’s lowest performing schools.

One plaintiff is an 11-yearold student identified only as Katie T. When she completed fifth grade at La Salle Avenue Elementary School in Los Angeles, she was at the reading level of a student just starting third grade and was given no meaningful help, the lawsuit said.

State assessments found 96 percent of students at the school were not proficient in English or math, according to the lawsuit.