Research by UCLA CTS Scholars Informs Record $2 Billion Settlement with California to Address Inequities of Educational Impact of COVID-19

A coalition of legal advocates, civil rights organizations and educational researchers today announced a landmark settlement with the State of California to address educational shortfalls and inequities in educational practice, resources and opportunities that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic, undermining educational equity and learning opportunities for students, particularly students of color. 

The settlement of Cayla J. et al. v. State of California, announced by Public Counsel and Morrison & Foerster LLP, sets forth specific steps to understand and address the educational needs of students, schools, and districts through the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP), and establishes what is believed to be a record $2 billion in unencumbered funding to be made available statewide for efforts to support evidence-based educational remediation and reduce educational inequities for students. 

In pursuing the lawsuit and settlement, the plaintiff’s counsel drew upon the research and expertise of educational researchers, including leadership of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools (CTS). 

“Our role as an educational research organization is to develop knowledge and understanding of critical issues affecting learning and opportunity, and to share that information in ways that inform educational policy and practice to benefit students and transform schools,” said Joseph Bishop, executive director of the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools and an expert researcher for the case. 

“We believe strongly in the power of public scholarship that informs critical decisions like the Cayla J case. The COVID-19 pandemic compounded and widened existing education inequities in California for young people and families of color in profound ways. Our research has helped to shine a light on the challenges the pandemic has wrought, and sparked effective actions to address them.”   

The central contention of the plaintiffs in Cayla J. et al. v. State of California is that low-income students and students of color in California were disproportionately impacted by the pandemic in the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years during the height of remote instruction.  The settlement targets the provision of funding toward students most negatively impacted by the pandemic and remote instruction. The funding must be used to support student learning through measures proven to be effective by research-based evidence. The agreement also establishes a new precedent that any member of the public may file a UCP (Uniform Complaint Procedure) with their local education agency over concerns about diminished quality of learning.

Researchers at the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools joined with colleagues at Harvard, Stanford and the University of Michigan to investigate and detail pre-existing inequities that widened for young people for those two school years based on publicly available data, surveys and interviews.

The Center for the Transformation of Schools submitted two research reports to the court in support of the plaintiffs. 

The first, by Bishop and Tyrone Howard, UCLA education professor and CTS co-faculty director, details student learning effects, mental health disparities and the challenges experienced by education practitioners statewide. The report also provides recommendations for addressing the effects of the pandemic on “student learning, health, development, and well-being.” 

“Black and Brown students in California and across the nation have long been plagued by deeply unfair and persistent inequities in our system of public education,” says Howard. “Adding COVID-19 to the mix was like pouring gasoline on an already dangerous fire, accelerating inequities and damaging student learning. 

“Our research makes clear that California needs to place equity at the center of its efforts to improve educational opportunities. The settlement in the Cayla J case is an important step in the right direction of addressing decades-long disparities that Black, Brown and poor students have faced in this state. There is still tremendous work to do to eliminate racial disparities in educational opportunities that became ever greater during the pandemic.”

A second report by UCLA professor Lucrecia Santibañez, also a co-faculty director at CTS, examines the impacts of COVID-19 on social-emotional learning. The report details how California’s “decentralized school system” and “minimal guidance” led to “declines” in “student motivation” and “other indicators of student engagement and well-being.” Santibañez makes clear that “low-income, English-learner-classified students, and racial/ethnic minorities” were “hardest-hit by the pandemic,” and identifies priorities for addressing the social and emotional learning needs of students during pandemic recovery. 

“Our research shows that the traumatic impact of the pandemic has been staggering, extending far beyond academics and affecting students’ social, emotional, and mental health,” says Santibañez. “As California recovers from the pandemic, we must prioritize improving student engagement, socio-emotional learning, and well-being. That includes an urgent need to address chronic absenteeism, academic motivation, support staff shortages, and other factors connected to the experience of students.”

The research contributing to the case is highlighted in two briefs by the UCLA Center for the Transformation of Schools: When the Lights are Turned On: Documenting the Impact of COVID-19 on California’s Education Landscape and Rebuilding More Humane Schools Post-COVID-19: Prioritizing Student Engagement, Social-Emotional Learning and Well-Being. 

“This is a historic settlement for students and families of color who have been profoundly affected by the inequitable education that existed before the pandemic, and the acceleration of an unequal landscape after almost two years of remote instruction driven by the COVID-19 pandemic,” concludes Bishop. 

“A multi-year strategy, informed by students, parents, educators, and scholars is needed now to ensure resources from the settlement are distributed where they are needed most, based on sound evidence and research, and that local support, monitoring and public accountability are maintained. We hope the settlement will encourage the involvement of academic researchers in critical policy issues, and foster the use of research and expertise to inform and strengthen policy decisions and educational practice.”