Graham

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff and appellant Jack Graham is a tutor and substitute teacher. In 2010 and again in 2011, he applied to be added to California’s list of approved providers of supplemental education services (SES), which the state is required to maintain as a condition of receiving federal funding pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) (20 U.S.C. § 6301, et seq.).1 Both applications were rejected as “incomplete” by defendant and respondent the California Department of Education (the Department). Plaintiff filed this action in 2012. The complaint names as defendants the Department, the California Board of Education (the Board), the former Superintendent of Public Instruction (Jack O’Connell), the current Superintendant of Public Instruction (Tom Torlakson), the Director of the Department’s District and School Improvement Division (Fred Balcom), and former and current (as of the time the complaint was filed) members of the Board (collectively, defendants).2 It alleges causes of action for violation of plaintiff’s rights to free speech, to work and to equal protection under Title 42 of the United States Code section 1983 (§ 1983) and the California Constitution,…