REACH’s parents make history with $2+ billion learning loss settlement

There’s no better way The Oakland REACH can mark the first day of Black History Month than by sharing this good news: today, the State of California, alongside counsel for the plaintiffs, announced a $2+ billion settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed in December 2020 by families to hold California’s education leaders accountable for failing our children during the pandemic. 

Data shows Black children were disproportionately burdened by inequity during that challenging time, so they should benefit from this historic victory. 

This is the largest-ever settlement in California — and one of the largest in the nation — brought by parents over the quality of education. And it was fueled by the courage of REACH’s families and the power of their testimonies.

Three years ago, our families showed courage amidst the unknown, acting even when they were not confident that their voices mattered. To our parents from Oakland and to the parents from Community Coalition in Los Angeles who were plaintiffs in the case, we applaud you. You made this possible. You are making an impact for kids. 

This settlement’s significant dollar amount isn’t the only reason it’s history-making — it also includes a groundbreaking provision that recognizes community-based organizations as effective providers of evidence-based programming for children. For the first time ever, a statute will codify what REACH has always known: when we put parents and caregivers in the driver’s seat, we can increase educational outcomes for our children.

This settlement is a guarantee that money will go where it belongs — to the kids and schools who need it the most and to push our systems to adopt evidence-based practices.

This is just the beginning. Now, we all must advocate for these funds to be used for solutions that work. Here’s more news: REACH already has built those solutions. This lawsuit started in December 2020 — but we didn’t just wait around for the win. We built solutions like our Liberator Model, which trains parents to become as effective as teachers when trained as tutors, according to the Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE). Or like the Virtual Family Hub, which resulted in 60% of K-2 students increasing by two or more reading levels on the district’s SIPPs assessment and 30% increasing by three or more reading levels.

As our Director of Parent Liberators, Keta Brown, says, “We don’t have to get ready. We stay ready.”

Districts must continue to bring community partners to the table, and community partners should be acting on proven, research-based solutions that get our children reading and doing math on grade level. Watch this video to see our Liberator Model in action — this is the kind of winning partnership we need across the state. 

We want to see this money go to expand models like ours that put parents and caregivers in the driver’s seat to increase educational outcomes for our children. This $2+ billion settlement is a history-making win, but money can’t solve anything if we don’t put it to good use. Let’s work together to do just that.