Californians Together: Championing Educational Success for English Learners525 E. 7th Street Long Beach, CA 90813 Tel: (562) 983-1333 Fax: (562) 436-1822April 13, 2007 Hi Everyone,I wanted to share this information with those of you who might be interested in attending the first day of the Court Hearing on the NCLB Testing Lawsuit, Coachella Valley Unified vs. the State of California. The hearing will be held on Monday April 23rd in the San Francisco Superior Court, Department 34, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, California. (See link below.) The session is due to start at 9:30 a.m. but you should plan to arrive no later than 9:15 a.m.At this hearing, some of the following interesting points will be covered:
a. Whether or not to dismiss the case based upon findings from a previous case;b. Whether the court should hear live testimony from witnesses on disputed facts like whether the tests are valid and reliable for EL's; whether the State has adopted required accommodations; whether the districts have been injured by PI status and other issues or whether the court relies on declarations;c. What is the legal standard to be used by the court in deciding if the State has properly fulfilled its duties under NCLB;d. What mandatory duties the State has under NCLB as regards EL academic testing;e. To what extent the State's exercise of discretion as to how it fulfills NCLB duties is reviewable by the Court:f. To what extent the Court must defer to conduct of the USDE in its enforcement/non-enforcement of NCLB;g. To what extent the court must defer to State educational policymakers in determining state testing under NCLB.Additionally, there will be discussion on how to go forward with the actual trial in May. It is important that many of us attend this hearing to demonstrate the important nature of our challenge. If you are able to attend, please respond to this email to let us know that you will be with us in San Francisco.We hope to see many of you there, Shelly Spiegel-Coleman President, Californians Together NCLB Testing Lawsuit 9:30 a.m. Monday April 23rd 2007 SF Superior Courthouse 400 McAllister Street SF CA 94102Link: <http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=DVXA,DVXA:2006-27,DVXA:en&q=400%20McAllister%20St.%20SF%20CA%20&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl>http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=DVXA,DVXA:2006-27,DVXA:en&q=400%20McAllister%20St.%20SF%20CA%20&oe=UTF-8&um=1&sa=N&tab=wl