STATEOFMICHIGANINTHECIRCUITCOURTFORTHECOUNTYOFWAYNES.S.asnextfriendofminor
L.M.;
D.S.asnextfriendofminorS.D.;
MJ.
asnextfriendofminorM.S.;D.C.asnextfriendofL.B.;T.F.asnextfriendofminorsD.F.,I.D.,andF.C.;andL.H.asnextfriendofminorC.M.:onbehalfofthemselvesandallotherssimilarlysituated,Plaintiffs,CaseNo.vs.Hon.STATEOFMICHIGAN;STATEBOARDOFEDUCATION;MICHIGANDEPARTMENTOFEDUCATION;MICHAELP.FLANAGAN,SuperintendentofPublicInstructioninhisofficialcapacity;JOYCEPARKER,EmergencyManagerofHighlandParkinherofficialcapacity;andHlGHLANDPARKSCHOOLDISTRICT,
COMPL.uNTANDPETITION
FORWRITOFMANDAMUS
Defendants.
---------------------------------------------------------------,/
AttorneysforPlaintiffs:
Kary
L.
Moss(P49759)RickA.Haberman(P57269)MichaelJ.Steinberg(P43085)MarkP.Fancher(P56223)AmericanCivilLibertiesUnionFundofMichigan2966WoodwardAve.Detroit,MI48201(313)578-6800Jennifer
B.
Salvatore(P66640)EdwardAlanMacey(P72939)NakishaN.Chaney(P65066)CooperatingAttorneys,AmericanCivilLibertiesUnionFundofMichiganNacht,Roumel,Salvatore,Blanchard
&
Walker,P.C.101NorthMainStreet,Suite555AnnArbor.Michigan48104(734)663-7550MarkD.Rosenbaum(CA#59940)DavidB.Sapp(CA#264464)
(Prohacvice
admissionpending)CooperatingAttorneys,AmericanCivilLibertiesUnionFundofMichigan1313W.8thSt.LosAngeles,CA90017(213)977-9500StevenD.Guggenheim(CA#201386)CatherineEugeniaMoreno(CA#264517)
(Prohacvice
admissionpending)CooperatingAttorneys,AmericanCivilLibertiesUnionFundofMichiganWilson,Sonsini,Goodrich
&
Rosati,LLP650PageMillRoadPaloAlto,CA94304(650)320-4873
------------------------------------------------------------~/
COMPLAINTANDPETITIONFORWRITOFMANDAMUSThereisnootherpendingorresolvedcivilactionarisingoutofthetransactionoroccurrenceallegedinthecomplaint.
lsi
KaryL.
MossINTRODUCTORYSTATEMENT1.ThisisacivilrightscomplaintbroughtonbehalfofstudentsintheHighlandParkSchoolDistrict("HPSD")whohavebeendeniedtheinstructionnecessarytoattainbasicliteracyskillsandreadingproficiencyexpectedofallstudentsbytheStateofMichigan.Amongotherthings,thissuitseekstheimmediateimplementationofMCL380.1278(8),whichprovidesthateveryregulareducationstudentwhodoesnotshowproficiencyonthereadingportionoftheMichiganEducationalAssessmentProgram("MEAP"),theState'sstandardizedreadingproficiencytest,in4thor7thgradeshallreceive"specialassistancereasonablyexpectedtoenablethepupiltobringhisorherreadingskillstogradelevelwithin12months."2.PlaintiffsandcountlessotherstudentsinHPSDaretypicallyreadingmanygradelevelsbelowtheiractualgradeinschool.Thisgapmostoftenexpandsoverthecourseoftheirschoolcareers.SeegenerallyLeilaFiester&RalphSmith,
LearningtoRead:EarlyWarning!
Why
ReadingbytheEnda/ThirdGradeMatters
(Baltimore:AnnieE.CaseyFoundation,2010)[hereinafter
"LearningtoRead:EarlyWarning!'].
Statedmostdirectly,theHighlandParkSchoolDistrictisamongthelowestperformingschooldistrictsintheStateofMichiganandwillremainsounlessresearch-basedmethodologiesforimprovingbasicliteracyskillsandreadingproficiencyareimmediatelyimplementedandrigorouslyadministeredbywell-trainedandsupportedprofessionalsandmonitoredstrictlyaccordingtoacceptedstandardsoftheprofession.SeeMichDep'tofEd,
201
J
ToptoBottomIndividualSchoolLookup
<http://www.michigan.gov/mde/0,I607,7-140-378I8_56562---,0O.html>(accessedJuly11,2012)(listingHPSD'sthreeschoolsaswithinthebottom8%,6%,and1%ofMichiganschools,respectively).2
3.TheConstitutionoftheStateofMichigansinglesouteducationasauniquelyimportantstatefunctionandstatesthat"themeansofeducationshallforeverbeencouraged."Const1963,
art
8,§1.OurConstitutionspecificallyplacesthedutytoeducateouryouthonthestate:"Thelegislatureshallmaintainandsupportasystemoffreepublicelementaryandsecondaryschoolsasdefinedbylaw."Const1963,
art
8,§2.4.Toexecutethisconstitutionalmandate,ourLegislatureenactedthe"righttoreadprovision"embodiedinsection380.1278oftheMichiganCompiledLaws,titled"Coreacademiccurriculum."Subsection8ofthisprovisionstates:Excludingspecialeducationpupils,pupilshavingalearningdisability,andpupilswithextenuatingcircumstancesasdeterminedbyschoolofficials,apupilwhodoesnotscoresatisfactorilyonthe4thor7thgrade[MEAP]readingtestshallbeprovidedspecialassistancereasonablyexpectedtoenablethepupiltobringhisorherreadingskillstogradelevelwithin12months.[MCL380.1278(8).]5.
In
enactingMCL380.1278(8),theLegislaturerecognizedthatatabareminimum,theabilitytoachievebasicliteracyasrepresentedbyachievingreadingproficiencyappropriatetoageandgradelevelconstitutestherootofalllearning.Thisisconsistentwiththeempiricalrealitythatstudentswhofallbehindinlearningtoreadwillbeunableto"readtolearn"or"us[e]theirskillstogainmoreinformationinsubjectssuchasmathandscience,tosolveproblems,tothinkcriticallyaboutwhattheyarelearning,andtoactuponandsharethatknowledgeintheworldaroundthem."
LearningtoRead:EarlyWarningl,supra
at9.Accordingly,theopportunitytoachievebasicproficiencyinreadingsufficienttoallowastudenttoaccesscurricularcontentisaconstitutional"bottomline,"codifiedinstatutebytheLegislatureconsistentwithitsconstitutionalobligationtomaintainandsupportapubliceducationsystem.Thisbottomlineappliestoallstudents.6.InHPSD,however,twothirdsofallstudentslackthebasicliteracyskillstomeetground-levelstandardsofproficiencyontheMEAPasaconsequenceofsystemicdeficiencieswithinHPSD.AccordingtodatapublishedbytheStateofMichigan,forthe2011-12schoolyear,only35%of4thgradestudentsinHPSDscored"Proficient"orhigherontheMEAP3
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ACLU Lawsuit Against Highland Park, Michigan for Not Teching Children to Read
ACLU lawsuit suing Highland Park, Michigan for not teaching children to read
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