ELC has long advocated for the abolition of suspensions of young learners. Last night, Pittsburgh made history when the school board voted to prohibit the use of exclusionary discipline for students in kindergarten through second grade for minor non-violent conduct, starting next school year. The policy is the result of significant organizing and advocacy by parents, students, and advocates - with ELC engaged as community lawyers to strategically support partners and bring about systemic change. Pittsburgh's policy builds upon our work earlier this year to limit the use of exclusionary discipline in early childhood education statewide. Collectively, these policies represent important steps in our larger shared work to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and advance education equity for all students in Pennsylvania. We will continue to advocate for similar statewide discipline reforms and urge other districts across the Commonwealth to ban suspensions of early learners.

Read more about Pittsburgh's new policy here and here. 

Education savings accounts are a voucher-like education "reform" touted by U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. A bill before the Senate Education Committee in Harrisburg would subsidize private education for families who opt out of their public school. State taxpayer dollars designated for a specific school district would be directed instead into a personal student-specific account. The funds would be paid to private institutions that are exempt from laws that protect the education and civil rights of marginalized students, including students with disabilities and English Learners.  A committee vote on Senate Bill 2 is likely in early January. ELC Policy Attorney Reynelle Brown Staley spelled out the problems with the bill in this interview. Pennsylvania cannot afford to use taxpayer dollars to fund disinvestment from public schools and to disadvantage underserved communities. We urge you to call your legislators to say "No" to education savings accounts and SB2.

On December 14, ELC Legal Director Maura McInerney testified before the School Reform Commission urging the adoption of additional policies to ensure effective language instruction and equal educational opportunities for English Learners in the School District of Philadelphia (read the testimony here). Specifically, ELC urged the adoption of detailed policies and procedures to ensure: (1) the provision of interpretation and translation services to support meaningful parent participation; (2) the availability of robust, evidence-based language instruction programs implemented by trained teachers in every school; and (3) critical evaluation of the effectiveness of language instruction programs at the building level. ELC contended that these revisions are needed to enable ELL students to overcome language barriers and ensure equal educational opportunities.

ELC has openings in our Philadelphia office for a  Budget and Financial Assistant, a Paralegal/Intake Coordinator, and a Development and Communications Associate.

We are also looking for Interns and Post-Graduate Fellows in our Philadelphia and Pittsburgh offices.  We will review applications from 1Ls and 2Ls for summer internships in ELC's Philadelphia office on a rolling basis, with a suggested deadline of January 20, 2018. Please send a cover letter, resume, writing sample and list of references to Kristina Moon.  Click  here  to download the Philadelphia summer intern posting.  Click   here   to review still-available 2018 spring internship opportunities.

  

For more information on these opportunities, please click here.