To Settle a Lawsuit, California Will Shift $2 Billion to Students Hurt by Pandemic Shutdowns

California has agreed to direct $2 billion to evidence-based supports for children who were hurt most by learning disruptions during the pandemic, settling a long-running class-action lawsuit.

The lawsuit stems from months of pandemic school closures in 2020 and 2021. California, like many states, used remote instruction during those shutdowns.

Los Angeles and Oakland students in the education equity lawsuit Cayla J. v. California, filed in 2020, accused the state and its education officials of not providing guidance, support, and oversight during that time, allowing massive instructional and technology gaps to widen between low-income students and their wealthier peers, particularly for students in remote learning during school closures.

Cayla J. and Kai J., twins among the 15 low-income students of color in the lawsuit, were in 2nd grade on March 17, 2020 when their Oakland schools closed during the pandemic, and had only two classes for the rest of that school year. The twins’ mother, Angela J., said she “felt like her children had been written off.”

Please help put parents in charge of their child’s education by forwarding this article to other parents, family, friends and voters.

Other Articles

California Legislature again rejects bill to make kindergarten mandatory
Legislation to make kindergarten a requirement for all young students has failed again in the California Capitol.
Read More
Our public schools are a national disaster
Perhaps what’s most distressing about the latest collapse in high school test scores is that no one seems to be very distressed.
Read More
U.S. classrooms are more diverse than ever. The teacher's lounge is not.
Seventy years after Brown v. Board outlawed segregation in schools, there's a lingering imbalance in the teaching ranks, they lack educators of color.
Read More
EXCLUSIVE: Students trained to support BLM, other movements in California school district
California school district is requiring students to draft social media posts in support of social movements, sparking outrage with a parents' rights group.
Read More
New California law guarantees 30-minute recess break for school-aged children
School-aged kids across California will have a mandatory 30-minute recess break starting with the 2024-25 school year under a bill Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed into law.
Read More
Reaching kindergarten parents key to fixing post-pandemic surge in absenteeism
School attendance has never recovered from the COVID crisis, especially in early years and communities of color.
Read More
Too much talk, not enough action for Black students in California
California needs to do much better for Black students and the efforts to do so as of late are few, far between, and watered down.
Read More
Teachers report low pay, high levels of stress in annual survey
Teachers work more hours with a lower average base pay than other working Americans with similar vocations, according to a national Rand survey released June 18.
Read More

Get latest news delivered daily!

We will send you breaking news right to your inbox

© 2025 educationopportunity.org, Privacy Policy | FPPC #1460602