Butt

I agree with the majority that the threatened closure of the schools of the Richmond Unified School District (District) was such an extreme departure from prevailing educational standards as to infringe on the students’ state constitutional rights to basic educational equality, requiring the State of California (State) to intervene to protect those rights.

I do not agree, however, that the trial court violated the separation of powers doctrine by ordering that emergency loan funds be made available from an unused special appropriation to the Department of Education and an unused emergency appropriation to the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD). The majority has, in effect, declared that although the students’ right to education is fundamental, no means may exist by which our judicial system can enforce that right. In my view, the trial court’s order was an appropriate and pragmatic resolution of a difficult case under extreme pressure. Because the Legislature had already appropriated the funds in question for educational purposes reasonably related to the District’s needs, I discern no constitutional violation, and would affirm the trial court’s orders in their…

In late April 1991, after a period of mounting deficits, the Richmond Unified School District (District) announced it lacked funds to complete the final six weeks of its 1990-1991 school term. The District proposed to close its doors on May 1, 1991. The Superior Court of Contra Costa County issued a preliminary injunction directing the State of California (State), its Controller, and its Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to ensure that the District’s students would receive a full school term or its equivalent. The court approved the SPI’s plan for an emergency State loan, and for appointment by the SPI of an administrator to take temporary charge of the District’s operation.

*674 We declined to stay implementation of the plan pending the State’s appeal. However, we transferred the appeal here in order to decide an important issue of first impression: Whether the State has a constitutional duty, aside from the equal allocation of educational funds, to prevent the budgetary problems of a particular school district from depriving its students of “basic” educational equality.

We affirm the trial court’s determination that such a duty exists under the California…

I concur with the majority’s conclusions regarding the constitutional obligations of the State of California (State) to assure educational equality. I would not, however, address the propriety of the sources approved by the trial court to provide an emergency loan.

In my view, we need not consider questions regarding the use of the Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) emergency appropriation or the unused appropriation for the Greater Avenues for Independence (GAIN) program because the issues are moot and their resolution will have no impact on the status quo in this case. As the majority notes, at the May 2, 1991, proceeding, the State continued to object to the trial court’s order arising out of the April 29,1991, hearing. That order required the State, Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) and Controller, at their discretion and “by whatever means they deem appropriate,” to ensure Richmond students were not deprived of six weeks of education provided to other students within California. In addition to renewing its basic position on the merits of the *705 constitutional arguments, the State also objected to use of the specific funds proposed by the SPI and Controller. It…

I am in general agreement with the views expressed in Justice Kennard’s concurring and dissenting opinion.

However, I cannot embrace the ill-advised concession that the trial court’s order “did pose a potential for disruption of a function of the legislative branch” although the degree of potential disruption “is not great” and the purported infringement on the legislative function is “not substantial.” (Kennard, J., post, conc, and dis. opn. at pp. 710, 711.)

The theory of potential interference with legislative functions to any extent is inconsistent with the ultimate conclusion that the funds used for the emergency loan were “reasonably related” to the educational purposes of the legislation, and, indeed, “the trial court’s order furthered, rather than defeated, that valid legislative purpose.” As persuasively observed in footnote 2, the “funds were appropriated for purposes reasonably and closely related *706 to the purpose for which the trial court ordered them to be used.” (Kennard, J., post, conc. and dis. opn. at p. 711.)

Under the foregoing circumstances—with which I agree—there cannot be some conceptual interference, even though “not great,” with the functions of the…

BAXTER. J.

In late April 1991, after a period of mounting deficits, the Richmond Unified School District (District) announced it lacked funds to complete the final six weeks of its 1990-1991 school term. The District proposed to close its doors on May 1, 1991. The Superior Court of Contra Costa County issued a preliminary injunction directing the State of California (State), its Controller, and its Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) to ensure that the District's students would receive a full school term or its equivalent. The court approved the SPI's plan for an emergency State loan, and for appointment by the SPI of an administrator to take temporary charge of the District's operation.

We declined to stay implementation of the plan pending the State's appeal. However, we transferred the appeal here in order to decide an important issue of first impression: Whether the State has a constitutional duty, aside from the equal allocation of educational funds, to prevent the budgetary problems of a particular school district from depriving its students of "basic" educational equality.

We affirm the trial court's determination that such a duty exists under the…