O'Melveny's 2018-2019 Pro Bono Review

O’MELVENY PRO BONO PROGRAM REVIEW 2018- 2019 23 Demanding Equity for Underserved Populations O’Melveny secured a historic victory for hundreds of thousands of Pennsylvania children, convincing the state’s Supreme Court to overturn 40 years of precedent by reversing a lower court and ordering a trial on whether state officials are violating the state’s constitution by failing to adequately and equitably fund public education. In 2014, O’Melveny, along with co-counsel at the Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center, filed the lawsuit— William Penn School District, et al. v. Pennsylvania Dept. of Education, et al. —on behalf of parents, school districts, and statewide organizations in response to the Pennsylvania legislature’s failure to adequately fund public education. The petition describes the disparities between high- and low-wealth school districts, as well as the grave effects of persistent underfunding on children’s prospects for success. The disparities were stark: Pennsylvania has the nation’s most inequitable school funding system—its low-wealth districts receive an average of 35% less than high-wealth districts. After the commonwealth court dismissed the case as non-justiciable under the political- question doctrine, O’Melveny appealed to the Education O’Melveny has long been an advocate for access to education in our communities. Our lawyers have taken on important cases in the fight for adequate school funding and equitable opportunity for all students. Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which heard oral argument in 2016. Counsel explained why judicially manageable standards are available for determining whether the Pennsylvania legislature is complying with its obligation under the education clause of the state constitution to “provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education,” and argued that the court’s dismissal of the petitioners’ equal protection claim as non-justiciable was improper. In a sweeping decision issued in 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court agreed with O’Melveny and held that the judiciary has a duty to consider the case and ensure legislative compliance with the education clause of the state constitution. The court also ruled that the lower court must consider the petitioners’ claim that the legislature’s grossly inequitable funding system discriminates against children based on the wealth of their communities. “Judicial review stands as a bulwark against unconstitutional or otherwise illegal actions by