Renters win vital protections

On October 8th, Governor Newsom signed AB 1482 which protects 8 million Californians from rent-gouging and unfair evictions! Renters showed how powerful they are this year and we will stand with them in 2020 to end homelessness, make housing affordable and stop the gentrification crisis. We were proud to co-sponsor and campaign for this bill with ACCE, PICO California, the Tech Equity Collaborative, the Western Center on Law & Poverty, and PolicyLink!

Stop criminalizing students of color!

Students in the Pomona Unified School District won a huge victory forcing the district to reallocate money from law enforcement officers towards counselors. Senior Staff Attorney Nicole Gon Ochi was on the "This Week in California Education" podcast by EdSource to talk about this big win, and how it could reverberate across California. Research has shown that law enforcement in schools just leads to the criminalization of students of color. Nicole partnered with ACLU of Southern California to support Pomona students and Gente Organizada secure this victory

'Hear the Students'

Students are often the last invited to the decision-making table and we want to make sure that their voices are heard consistently and proactively. On October 15th, we flipped the script and had high school, community college, CSU and UC students at the center of the room while policymakers, politicians, and advocates listened and asked questions.

 

It was an honor to co-host this event with the Cal State Student Association, Californians for Justice, the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, and the University of California Student Association who worked so hard to make 'Hear The Students' possible! Click here to see photos from the event!

Stopping President Trump's attack on the Fair Housing Act

With your help, the Alliance for Housing Justice submitted more than 5,000 comments from all 50 states demanding the Trump Administration uphold a key provision of the Fair Housing Act called the Disparate Impact Rule. The Rule is a key enforcement tool and it would be disastrous to weaken it. Public Advocates is a co-founder of the Alliance for Housing Justice.

LAUSD did not properly account for $2 billion. We're fighting back!

Public Advocates has appealed two decisions by education officials to approve Los Angeles Unified School District's spending plan for high-need students, which we challenged last July. We are concerned over the lack of transparency in the plan, its failure to demonstrate the district is increasing or improving services for high need students, its decision to decrease services for foster youth and the district’s failure to engage students and parents in the LCAP’s development. For an explanation of our complaint and updates, see here.

Want to work with us?

Public Advocates is hiring in both our SF and Sacramento offices! Check out and share these three job openings for a Litigation Attorney for the Metropolitan Equity Team, a Legislative Counsel or Policy Advocate for K-12 Education, and a Part-Time Research Assistant. We are also looking for Spring and Summer 2020 clerks !

The Voices of Conscience Fund: our civil rights war chest

Support for the Voices of Conscience Fund, now in its second year, continues to grow. We're grateful to all our sponsors highlighted above for leading the way! In lieu of hosting a costly annual dinner, Public Advocates has created the Fund to direct 100% of your financial contribution to building the legal firepower necessary to fight for education, housing and transportation equity. You can click here to explore sponsorship levels.

Watch 'A Law Firm Like no Other' featuring Public Advocates

We are featured in the 2019 season of the award-winning public television documentary series The Visionaries . Hosted by Sam Waterston of Law and Order fame, the documentary began airing nationwide in June 2019. A Law Firm Like no Other examines two important Public Advocates victories: the landmark deal that committed Facebook to funding affordable housing in the neighborhoods surrounding Menlo Park, and the creation of the Local Control Funding Formula, which equitably allocates education funding to those who need it most. You can click here to watch the full documentary!

Public Advocates in the News

KQED mentions Managing Attorney John Affeldt in a story about the historic Larry P. class action lawsuit..... EdSource mentions Senior Legislative Counsel Rigel Spencer Massaro in a story about the effectiveness of tutors in the West Contra Costa Unified School District..... The Intercept mentions John Affeldt in a story about Teach for America..... EdSource mentions Public Advocates in a story about replacing statewide exams with the SAT and ACT.....Public Advocates is mentioned in stories on LAUSD's misspending in the LA School Report , LAist (article 1 , article 2 ), and EdSource .....Policy Advocate Salem Afangideh is mentioned in The Hill in a story about scooters and their impact on cities..... The American Prospect mentions Public Advocates in a story about the state's new anti-rent gouging bill..... EdSource and the San Gabriel Valley Tribune mentions Public Advocates in a story about Pomona Unified's decision to reallocate funds intended for law enforcement officers in schools..... EdSource mentions Public Advocates in a story about the Schools and Communities First ballot initiative..... Fox & Hounds mentions Public Advocates in a story about school funding