Ballard Spahr Partners With Public Counsel on Behalf of  Educators, Students, and Parents in Lawsuit Against California School Board

In a first-of-its-kind case in California, the Temecula Valley Educators Association, students, parents, and individual teachers today announced they are suing the Board of Trustees of the Temecula Valley Unified School District over its enactment of a resolution banning the teaching of concepts with which Board members disagree.

The Board passed the resolution in December 2022. It bans the teaching of a sweeping and ill-defined range of content referred to as “Critical Race Theory and other similar frameworks,” censoring what students learn about American history and their own identities.

Ballard Spahr and Public Counsel, co-counsel for the plaintiffs, filed the suit today in state Superior Court, Riverside County. The Ballard Spahr team is led by Los Angeles-based Litigation Partner Scott S. Humphreys and includes Elizabeth L. Schilken in Los Angeles and Maxwell S. Mishkin in Washington, D.C.

The representation is part of Ballard Spahr’s Racial Justice and Equality Initiative, a pro bono plan of action dedicated to combating racial injustice and inequity through litigation.

For more details about the lawsuit, please see the full press release.