What are students left to do to improve their quality of education after they’ve run out of options? According to students from Detroit Public Schools (DPS), heading to court is the next step.

Apparently, the disparity in the quality of education between Detroit’s best and worst performing schools was so drastic that students are now filing a lawsuit claiming that DPS has violated their constitutional rights to education. 

Jamarria Hall, a senior at Osborn High School, is one of the five students who filed the class action suit. According to ABC, there are often days where Hall and his classmates would be sent to the school gymnasium instead of class because there wasn’t a teacher on staff to run classes.

[Related: Detroit Public Schools May Close After April 8 Due To Lack Of Funds]

While he fortunately has a support system at home, he pointed out that there are many students who aren’t encouraged to read because there’s no English teacher.

“We don’t even have books for them to practice reading,” said Hall.

The lawsuit, which was filed by California attorneys with the Opportunity Under Law Project, claims that the city underfunding the school system infringes upon the students’ right to literacy.

“For more than a decade, the educators of this city have been raising the red flag about Detroit Public Schools: Our schools are falling apart, our classrooms lack the basic resources needed to educate children, and we have been forced to do more with less to give our students a shot at the American dream,” said Detroit Federation of Teachers Interim President Ivy Bailey.

Photo Credit: WXYZ screenshot