John T. Affeldt, Managing Attorney, Public Advocates

John T. Affeldt graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1990 where he was a Student Director of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau and Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University in 1984. Before coming to Public Advocates, John clerked for the Hon. William M. Hoeveler in Federal District Court in Miami, assisting with the trial of Manuel Noriega. At Public Advocates, John has focused on educational equity issues, with responsibility for the case against the California Basic Educational Skills Test; serving as a lead counsel on Williams v. California--a recently settled landmark challenge to California's failure to provide equal and adequate educational opportunities throughout its public schools; and contributing to the firm's post-judgment efforts in its challenge to the use of IQ tests with African American school children. Working with grassroots, community-based groups, researchers, and others, John is a founding member of a collaboration of groups building a sophisticated statewide grassroots policy advocacy campaign to improve educational opportunities for low-income students of color. John was also lead counsel in Public Advocates' litigation halting Governor Pete Wilson from denying prenatal care and emergency medical care to tens of thousands of undocumented immigrant residents. Prior to law school, John spent three years living and working as a volunteer in Indonesia.