California cities are moving quickly to install video surveillance cameras on public streets and plazas without regulations, with little or no public debate, and without an evaluation of their effectiveness, according to an ACLU report released today.

"Under the Watchful Eye" includes the first-ever survey of video surveillance in California, where 37 cities have implemented programs, and 10 cities are considering them. No jurisdiction in California has conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the surveillance cameras' effectiveness, according to a statewide public records survey conducted by the three ACLU California affiliates.

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California cities are moving quickly to install video surveillance cameras on public streets and plazas without regulations, with little or no public debate, and without an evaluation of their effectiveness, according to an ACLU report released today.

"Under the Watchful Eye" includes the first-ever survey of video surveillance in California, where 37 cities have implemented programs, and 10 cities are considering them. No jurisdiction in California has conducted a comprehensive evaluation of the surveillance cameras' effectiveness, according to a statewide public records survey conducted by the three ACLU California affiliates.

Conditions at California's lowest-performing schools are improving, a new report has found. Schools are fixing unsafe and decrepit classrooms, hiring more qualified teachers, and providing textbooks to students who just three years ago had none.
The changes are the result of the 2004 settlement of Williams v. California, an ACLU/SC lawsuit targeting desperate conditions for the state's poorest students.
"The Williams case has provided millions of California students with the basic essentials they need to succeed," said Brooks Allen, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California's Statewide Williams Implementation Attorney and co-counsel for the plaintiffs. "But Williams is a beginning, not an end. The minimum standards it sets are the foundation on which California must build in order to ensure that every child has access to a high-quality education."