• Posts by Mark Bresee
    Posts by Mark Bresee
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    Mark Bresee represents California public school and community college districts and county offices of education. His areas of practice include all aspects of labor and employment law, student issues including attendance and ...

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BY:

On Saturday, October 8, 2011 Governor Brown vetoed AB 165, the student fee legislation that would have codified existing student fee restrictions and authorizations, added student fee monitoring to the existing Williams settlement accountability and oversight processes, and resolved the ACLU’s class action lawsuit against the state.  The veto was a surprise to most who followed the bill through the ...
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Categories: Student Issues
BY:
The implementation of the settlement of the ACLU’s student fee lawsuit has taken many unusual turns. The previous settlement is no longer in place, but the litigation has been put on hold pending the legislative process. AB 165, the legislation initially designed to implement the settlement, and which will still be the foundation for a resolution of the litigation if it is enacted, was the product of much legislative wrangling.  It now sits on the Governor’s desk, having passed in both houses of the legislature, and it will likely be enacted. Amendments to AB 165 since it was originally introduced have been extensive, but have not significantly changed the basic two-component structure: 1) Codification of the existing “free school guarantee” in statute, rather than the current myriad of judicial decisions, a state regulation, Attorney General opinions, and administrative guidance documents; and 2) Creation of oversight and enforcement mechanisms to encourage Constitutional compliance in the future.
We believe the landscape regarding student fees has changed permanently, regardless of the fate of AB 165 and the ACLU lawsuit—public awareness of the “free school guarantee” is so widespread that more vigilant compliance by school districts will be needed regardless of the outcome of the legislative and judicial process.  Many districts have already implemented extensive changes to ensure compliance.  The ACLU is still actively addressing fee issues arising at the beginning of this school year.  Because the landscape has changed permanently, and because of the likely passage of the legislation, districts are well-served by taking steps to ensure compliance and address specific requirements in AB 165.  The parameters of the “free school guarantee” and AB 165 will be reviewed in detail in a series of free AALRR Breakfast Briefings on the subject.  Click here to register.  A summary of AB 165 follows. 
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Categories: Student Issues

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