Dive Summary:

• A bill awaiting action in the California legislature is aimed at protecting students from fees for sports, field trips, textbooks, and art--fees it says are deemed illegal by the California Constitution's guarantee for a free K-12 education.
• Additionally, a pending lawsuit tiled two years ago by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California alleges that "the state has done nothing as its public school districts blatantly violate the free school guarantee by requiring students to pay fees and purchase assigned materials for credit courses," while a detailed state Department of Education memo prepared last year listing which fees are legal and illegal has apparently been ignored by many schools.
• A 1984 ruling by California's Supreme Court stated that public education is a "right enjoyed by all" and not a commodity, adding that educational opportunities must be provided to all students regardless of their families' ability or willingness to pay fees.

From the article:

SACRAMENTO -- Not every proposed law is historic or sweeping. Some merely are pretty good ideas — perhaps even important for a low-income kid. One such bill is among the hundreds awaiting action as the Legislature heads into its final month. The measure's goal is to stop schools from socking students with illegal fees. Fees for sports and field trips and textbooks and art, for example. They're being charged despite a guarantee in the California Constitution of a free K-12 education. ...