Access to Education project

A program of the Zimmer Children’s Museum, youTHink uses the power of art to foster critical thinking, engage diverse learners, promote literacy and serve as a tool for social change.  youTHink student leaders, in conjunction with Diversity in Action interns from California State University Dominguez Hills, have chosen to learn more about the impact of budget cuts on public education, and to explore whether all students in California are receiving an adequate and equitable education. The Access2Ed project is our way of bringing awareness to this pressing issue. 

Students are guaranteed the right to a meaningful education

We have learned that the California Constitution guarantees every child in California a fundamental right to a meaningful education and an equal opportunity to attain that education.  According to the California Supreme Court, a meaningful education in the 21st century prepares students for civic engagement, social success, and successful entry into the work force or higher education.

California is not meeting its constitutional obligation

The state of California is failing to provide equitable and adequate education for all its public school students.  Disproportionately, low-income students, students of color, and English learners are underserved, and are unprepared by their schools for successful entry into careers and civil society.  The primary cause of that failure is the State’s irrational, inequitable, and inadequate system of funding for public education.

Inequitable and inadequate funding for public education

Although California has one of the most challenging student populations in the country, its per pupil funding is among the lowest of any state.  The impact of the failure of the State’s school funding system to provide a meaningful education to all children is evidenced by the inability of an astonishing half of public school students in California to achieve proficiency on the State’s own academic content standards in 2008, by an equally shocking failure of a third of students who began high school in 2004-05 to graduate four years later, and by California’s bottom ten ranking in the federal government’s National Assessment of Educational Progress.

CQE et al v State of California

The Campaign for Quality Education (CQE), and 22 individual students along with 5 grassroots organizations recently became the plaintiffs in a class action suit against the state of California (CQE v California).  The CQE plaintiffs claim that the State’s failure to adequately and equitably fund its schools is a violation of their fundamental right to education under the California Constitution’s Education and Equal Protection Clauses.

Take action:

We, the students working on the Access2Ed project want people to get involved to demand change.  We are asking people to demand that Governor Jerry Brown create a new school funding system aligned with the actual costs of preparing students for civic, economic, and social success and that takes into account the learning needs of all students.

Please add your name and information to this petition.  Let the governor and other California legislators know that you believe that all California children deserve a meaningful education.