American Civil Liberties Union

This class action lawsuit challenges the failure of Charlie Crist, Governor of the State of Florida; Jeff Atwater, President of the Florida Senate; Larry Cretul, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State of Florida; Eric J. Smith, Commissioner of Education ofthe State of Florida; the Florida Department of Education; and the State Board of Education ("the Board") to provide a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality education to the children of Palm Beach County as mandated by the Florida Constitution. The Defendants' failure is evidenced by the low graduation rates of Palm Beach County School District.

This action further challenges the failure of Charlie Crist, Governor of the State of Florida; Jeff Atwater, PresIdent of the Florida Senate; Larry Cretul, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the State of Florida; Eric J. Smith, Commissioner of Education of the State of Florida; the Florida Department of Education; and the State Board of Education to provide a uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality education to African-American and Hispanic children in Palm Beach County as mandated by the Florida Constitution. The significant disparity between the graduation rates of African-American and Hispanic students and those of white students in the Palm Beach County School District establishes this failure.

By any measure, the graduation rates in Palm Beach County are evidence of an inadequate school system. Using the most generous method of calculating graduation rates, almost 1/3 of the students do not graduate. But, there is reason to believe a truly accurate method would reveal that close to 1/2 of the students fail to graduate. And, the consequences for the students and the county are devastating, as those who leave school without a high school diploma are significantly less able or likely to share in the American dream.