LOS ANGELES - Students returning to school today will see a difference in their classrooms.

Starting Jan.1 all California public schools must post notices informing students and their parents of certain basic requirements to which they must have access like materials and a clean and safe classroom, and the notice must tell parents and students where to find complaint forms if these standards are not being met.

"This is such a relief," said Martha Sanchez, a parent of three students at 28th Street Elementary School in Los Angeles. "Now there is a process that we can follow to make schools better and be sure my daughter has a good teacher and homework every night. Parents have never had a clear way to make any improvements in our schools."

The notices are a product of the historic education class action lawsuit Williams v. California, originally filed in May of 2000 by the ACLU, the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), Public Advocates, Inc. and other groups. Under Senate Bill 550, schools now must establish a uniform complaint process that will help identify and resolve problems and help ensure students have a better environment in which to learn.

"Until now California has never been accountable to its students for registering and remedying complaints about serious problems in the classroom," said Catherine Lhamon, a staff attorney for the ACLU of Southern California. "This is one of the first steps toward making positive changes to our public schools."

Students and parents can file complaints, in person or anonymously, about school deficiencies with their school principal and principals must fix valid complaints within 30 days. If not satisfied with the resolution, the student, parent or teacher may file an appeal to the school board or even the district superintendent, or for facilities problems directly to the state Allocation Board. School districts will provide public summaries of all complaints and their resolutions quarterly.

The Williams lawsuit charged the state with reneging on its constitutional obligation to provide students with the bare essentials necessary for education. The settlement takes steps toward assuring they have qualified teachers and it holds schools accountable for delivering these fundamental elements to students. It provides nearly $1 billion to accomplish these goals.

More information is available at www.decentschools.com.

LOS ANGELES - The American Civil Liberties Union and the State of California reached a settlement agreement in the class action education lawsuit Williams v. California in August 2004. The Williams lawsuit was originally filed in May 2000 by the ACLU, the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, Public Advocates, Inc., and other groups on behalf of California students who attended substandard schools in California, and charged the state with reneging on its constitutional obligation to provide students with the bare essentials necessary for education: sufficient instructional materials, adequate learning facilities, qualified teachers, etc.

All current and future California public school students can now find out more information about the settlement by calling 1-877-532-2533 (toll free, in English and Spanish) or visiting either www.aclusocal.org or www.decentschools.org. Information available to students and their parents includes a complete copy of the settlement agreement, the plaintiffs' notice of settlement, settlement legislation, and additional news releases.

The hearing for final approval of the settlement has been scheduled for 9:00 a.m., March 23, 2005 in San Francisco Superior Court: Judge Peter J. Busch, Dept. 210, 400 McAllister St., San Francisco, California 94102-4514. Class members who wish to object to the parties' settlement agreement should file written objections with the Court no later than Feb. 15, 2005, by mailing them to Judge Busch at the Court's address and a copy to the following address: The Williams Education Case, Morrison & Foerster, 425 Market St., San Francisco, California 94105-2482. Written objections should include the basis for each objection, as well as the objector's name, address, contact telephone number, and if applicable, e-mail address.

For more information please visit www.decentschools.org.

LOS ANGELES - Nearly six months after hundreds of people were arrested outside of bus stations, schools and hospitals for alleged immigration violations, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit seeking Border Patrol records after the agency repeatedly ignored requests for records related to the raids under the Freedom of Information Act. The suit was filed in federal court in the central district of California.

In June the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), formerly the Border Patrol, arrested more than 400 people in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties during immigration raids in predominantly Latino communities - far from its usual jurisdiction near international borders.

The ACLU made an initial request for the records in July to ensure that the Border Patrol was acting within the law, not violating Californians' constitutional rights and not engaging in racial profiling since the majority of those stopped, including U.S. citizens and permanent residents, were Latino.

"Questions like why the raids occurred, whether they were authorized, and whether people's constitutional rights were violated remain unanswered," said Ranjana Natarajan, an attorney with the ACLU of Southern California. "The answers to such questions will likely be found in the Border Patrol's records."

After the raids began schools reported higher than usual absence rates and medical clinics saw a temporary decline in the number of patients seeking services.

"We have no way of knowing if the Border Patrol targeted people because of their race, the language they speak, or the community in which they live," said Esther Portillo of the Libreria del Pueblo, a community group in San Bernardino. "Here, the fear caused by the raids kept many people in their homes, afraid to go into the streets. To this day no one knows why the raids happened and we have the right to know."

Under the FOIA guidelines, the CBP, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, had 20 days to respond to the ACLU's request. The agency did not respond and after an appeal by the ACLU, the agency blamed a lack of resources and a backlog of requests for not responding and did not say whether or not it planned to answer the request. Because the agency kept its records secret and the public in the dark about its practices, the ACLU filed suit.