Research & Publications

A report by the ACLU Foundations of California and Fresno Building Health Communities, “Is Funding for High-Need Students Actually Reaching Those Students? A Review of Fresno Unified’s Local Control Accountability Plan” details one school district’s attempt to improperly use state funds designated for high need students. In 2014, California passed the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), a law that fundamentally changed the way the state funds its public schools. The Legislature intended LCFF to promote equity by directing more resources to high-need students, including those who are low-income, foster youth, and English-language learners. Under the LCFF, school districts are required to create an LCAP plan and describe how they plan to spend funds to meet annual goals for all of their students.

This report recommends a hierarchy of reforms based on their financial feasibility. Policy updates and improvements would require no new resources and would help to improve degraded police-community relationships.

“Smart city” products are often touted as cost-efficient solutions to providing government services and addressing societal challenges, but in reality, these technologies are no more intelligent than the data and algorithms behind them. Like other tools, their effectiveness depends on when, where and how they are used. These technologies can cause real harm to people—they have the power to exacerbate racial or economic inequality and can expose deeply personal information to law enforcement or private parties.

Like many teenage boys, Nathan and Caleb, 14- and 16-year-old brothers who were students at Clarkston High School in rural Washington, liked to play pranks. At least they did until an incident at school landed both boys with felony charges. One morning the boys were in the same class with a substitute teacher watching a movie when they remembered the small bottles of fart spray they had with them. They unleashed the spray, causing students to complain with disgust and then spray their own cologne and perfume to mask the smell.