School Funding Trial in PA Starts in 10 Weeks! |
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Pennsylvania students’ day in court is coming soon! Our challenge to the constitutionality of Pennsylvania’s school funding system is going to trial. A Commonwealth Court judge’s order released June 22 scheduled an in-person trial to begin on September 9 at the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg. Attorneys expect the trial to last several weeks.
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Coverage of the case in the Delaware County Daily Times.
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Judge Renée Cohn Jubelirer, who will preside over the case, said in a pretrial conference that trial will be held five days a week and that a livestream will be available to the public. We hope you will make plans to join us in the courtroom at least once during this historic case. We are challenging a funding system that has failed to provide equitable or adequate resources to educate generations of Pennsylvania students in low-wealth districts, which is where most of the state’s Black and Brown students and students living in poverty attend school.
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PA Legislators Passed Up a Chance to Make Historic Investments in Schools |
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Advocates fought hard all year for game-changing increases in school funding as the state budget for 2021-22 was debated. This was feasible because the legislature unexpectedly found itself with $10 billion in uncommitted funds, thanks to a budget surplus and a major federal aid package. Gov. Wolf had called for an unprecedented $1.5 billion increase, driving most of the money to schools through the state’s fair funding formula.
Sadly, the increases that were adopted were modest by comparison: $300 million for basic education; $47 million for special education, and $30 million for early childhood programs. A bright spot was the targeting of $100 million of the funding increase to the 100 most underfunded districts, through a “Level Up” supplement, a small step in the right direction.
We appreciate the dedicated advocacy of our allies in the PA Schools Work and Level Up coalitions. Thanks to our joint efforts, the debate over fair funding is now happening, and this fight will continue. The allocation of the Level Up funding is a direct acknowledgment that the state’s lowest-wealth districts are severely underfunded. Pennsylvania has miles to go, but the current inadequate, unfair system cannot continue.
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Success!
Pittsburgh Eliminates Discriminatory ‘Disorderly Conduct’ Provision
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For years, ELC has been pressing Pittsburgh Public Schools to eliminate the category of “disorderly conduct” from its code of student conduct. The district’s data showed what ELC continued to hear from students and families: It was disproportionately used against Black students and often in response to age-appropriate behaviors. This week, the board voted to remove this section of the code. The board also adopted changes to stop responding to repeated low-level incidents with exclusionary discipline.
We applaud the board's recent adoption of revisions to the code but are disappointed that these revisions fall short of extending the current K-2 ban on suspensions to older students. As part of our efforts to promote equitable and inclusive schools, we provided testimony at the Pittsburgh Public Schools Board meeting in support of revisions to the code of conduct. We will continue to urge the district to replace exclusionary discipline with positive interventions that are culturally competent, developmentally appropriate, and race- and gender-positive.
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Chester Upland School District Rejects Proposals to Charterize Its Schools |
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The court-appointed receiver of Chester Upland School District (CUSD) announced his decision to reject all three proposals to charterize multiple CUSD schools on June 29. This ends a nearly two-year battle over the potential charter takeover of CUSD. The receiver specifically acknowledged that parents’ comments in opposition to the three proposals made a difference. Parents applauded the decision and underscored the need to have greater input in decision-making processes.
Receiver Juan Baughn also announced a new contract that outsources key district leadership roles and functions to the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU). Its functions include appointing a new acting superintendent and new directors of academics, accountability, and the business office. MCIU played a similar role in the Harrisburg School District. Baughn also announced his resignation as receiver effective August 31. A new receiver will make critical decisions in this ongoing process, including appointing a permanent superintendent with input from district parents. Information will be available on the district’s website.
ELC, along with our co-counsel at Public Interest Law Center, and our pro bono partners Sozi Tulante and Thomas Miller of Dechert LLC, will continue to represent the interests of parents in this receivership matter to ensure that parent voices are heard as they fight for additional funding for CUSD and to improve the future for their children by securing their right to a high-quality education.
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Community activists protested proposals to charterize Chester schools at a Feb. 27 rally in Media, Pa. |
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Last Week’s Sentencing and
the Fight for Racial Justice
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It has been 13 months since George Floyd’s murder shook our nation and almost a week since the sentencing of his murderer – Derek Chauvin – yet the harm is still with us. With police rarely facing accountability, Chauvin’s 22 ½-year sentence can be seen as a breakthrough. However, justice has not been served. George Floyd’s family is still without a father, brother, son, and uncle due to the Minneapolis Police Department, and the trauma and loss caused by his death has been felt far and wide.
In our homes, classrooms, and workspaces, it is important that we do recognize milestones toward justice, but without diverting our attention from the ongoing fight for racial equity. In our schools, we must recognize and address the traumatic impact that this case has had – on Black students and school community members in particular – and the weight they may carry with them as they leave school and as they return to classrooms. At the Education Law Center, we are committed to continuing to advance racial justice through our advocacy.
As Jamilah Pitts wrote on the website Learning for Justice: “We must be clear that … our work of ensuring that our schools are places that promote justice, truth-telling, liberation and joy is truly just beginning. Let us remain vigilant. Let us remain steadfast.”
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ELC Opposes Bill in PA House
to Ban Teaching about Racism
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In a continuing conservative assault on efforts to ensure culturally responsive and anti-racist education, Pennsylvania is one of many states where lawmakers are promoting legislation to ban the teaching of “critical race theory.” ELC responded in June by organizing a sign-on letter to legislators, criticizing the recently introduced House Bill 1532, which has been referred to Pennsylvania’s House Education Committee. The bill is an effort to explicitly prohibit students from learning about racism, accurate information about historical and current events, and the impact of race and gender inequality.
The sign-on letter, endorsed by four dozen organizations, notes that critical race theory is a highly regarded academic approach that “suggests that our nation’s history of race and racism is embedded in law and public policy and continues to play a role in shaping outcomes for Black Americans and other people of color; therefore, it must be taken into account when these issues are discussed.” The letter points out the responsibility of schools to “teach accurate history and dismantle biases.”
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PA Creates Options to Remain in School Another Year or Repeat a Grade;
Parents Must Decide by July 15
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A new Pennsylvania law, S.B. 664, allows students with disabilities who would otherwise have “aged-out” of special education during the 2020-2021 school year to remain in school for an additional year. This decision is not a substitute for any compensatory education or remedial services that a child may need due to COVID-19 instructional losses. The law expressly acknowledges that all IDEA provisions apply.
The law also allows parents of all children (regardless of disability) who are under 18 to choose to have their child repeat the year due to concerns about losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students age 18 or older are also entitled to elect to repeat the year. The decision to retain a child is a parent’s choice (or student’s choice if 18 or older) and cannot be denied by a school district, charter school, or other school entity. Importantly, the new law provides a one-time extension of eligibility beyond age 21 for this school year only. A decision to retain a child in grade now will not extend eligibility for special services beyond age 21 in future years.
Act quickly if you have questions and communicate directly with your school. By July 15, interested parents must notify their schools if they want their child under 18 to be retained or they want their 21-year-old young adult with a disability to remain in school an additional year.
Many students experienced learning losses and significant educational disruptions due to COVID-19. But a decision to retain a child in grade is a significant one. Factors to consider include the age and grade of the child, potential for stigma, and social-emotional considerations, including the loss of a peer group and the potential for undermining self-esteem. Parents can learn more about research on grade retention here and here.
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Senate Victory for Students
Who Are Highly Mobile
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We are thrilled to report that SB 324, the Fostering a Smooth Transition to Graduation bill, passed unanimously out of the Pennsylvania Senate on June 21. This bill protects and advances the educational rights of students with experience in the foster care and juvenile justice systems and students experiencing homelessness. This bill aids students by facilitating credit transfers and supporting their graduation from high school. For more information, please see our fact sheet.
While the House was not able to consider the bill before the summer break, we are hopeful that they will move forward quickly in the fall. Thanks to everyone who called legislators and supported this effort! We will share new opportunities to ensure that this important legislation becomes law in the months ahead.
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Philadelphia Public Schools Address
Sanctuary for Immigrant Students, Families
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The School District of Philadelphia Board of Education unanimously passed a Welcoming Sanctuary Schools resolution in June following months of advocacy by Juntos, a community-based organization in South Philadelphia, and the Sanctuary Schools Campaign. The resolution affirms that students and families are welcome and free from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) at Philadelphia public schools. It follows one year after ICE arrested Verónica del Carmen Lara Márquez at Kirkbride Elementary, where she dropped her child off for school.
The resolution commits the district to create an emergency response plan within 100 days. The plan outlines responses for students when ICE enforcement disrupts their families and communities. District staff, contractors, and volunteers will also receive training on responding to ICE activities. ELC provided legal advice about the rights of immigrant students for use in the resolution. At the close of Immigrant Heritage Month, we celebrate the remarkable effort that Juntos and its community members contributed to make a more welcoming and affirming school environment for immigrant students and their families in the School District of Philadelphia.
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Sanctuary Schools Campaign |
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Supreme Court affirms students’ right
to free speech outside of school
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled June 23 in Mahanoy Area School District v. B.L. and reaffirmed the free speech rights of students to express themselves outside of school. The student B.L. was 14 years old at the time and frustrated that she was not accepted to the varsity cheerleading team. She vented her frustration using profanity on Snapchat off-campus on the weekend. Another student showed the photo to a coach, who suspended B.L. from the team.
ELC joined an amicus brief in support of the student, which explained that expanding discipline for off-campus student speech would exacerbate racial and other disparities in school discipline for developmentally appropriate expression. The district court and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals held that the school did not have authority to discipline B.L. for off-campus speech. The school, located in Schuylkill County, Pa., appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Supreme Court affirmed that the student’s snap was protected speech because it was posted outside of school and not at a school-related activity, and the school violated the First Amendment when it punished her. The court wrote, “[T]he school itself has an interest in protecting a student’s unpopular expression, especially when the expression takes place off campus. America’s public schools are the nurseries of democracy.”
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Court: School districts cannot discriminate against transgender students |
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The Supreme Court has declined to hear another appeal of the matter of Grimm v. Gloucester County School Board, allowing lower court decisions in support of transgender students to stand. The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia and the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals both held that the Gloucester County School Board violated Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause because they prohibited Gavin Grimm from using the same restrooms as other boys and forced him to use separate restrooms because of his transgender identity.
This – the third time in recent years that the Supreme Court has allowed appeals court decisions in support of transgender students to stand – is a great affirmation and victory for transgender students around the country. ELC will continue to fight for transgender students. They belong in our schools and on our sports teams, free from discrimination and harassment. See ELC’s fact sheet about the Rights of LGBTQ, Gender Nonconforming & Nonbinary Students for more information.
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ELC Celebrates 46th Anniversary
This Fall with Annual Fundraiser
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Save the date! The Education Law Center is holding a virtual event this fall to celebrate the organization’s 46th anniversary. The event will take place September 29 at 6 pm. For sponsorship and ticket information, click here or contact Greg Murphy at gmurphy@elc-pa.org. We look forward to celebrating with you!
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Welcome More Summer Interns! |
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Rebecca Reuss is a rising second-year law student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is interning through the Chris Groark Student Engagement Award, granted to ELC through the Office of Child Development at the University of Pittsburgh. She has been involved for five years with Pittsburgh Soccer in the Community, a league for immigrants and refugees, and worked as a legal advocate in the children’s unit at Center for Victims. She has worked with the Alliance for Police Accountability on two bills, Breonna’s Law and Ending Solitary Confinement.
Meera Rajput is a rising third-year law student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She is a legal fellow through the Lawyers' Fund Law Student Summer Fellowship Program at the Allegheny County Bar Foundation. Last summer, she completed an internship at the Women's Law Project. Prior to law school, she completed a yearlong service fellowship at the Pennsylvania Innocence Project. At law school, she is Student Ambassador and is involved in the school's public interest organization.
Trinity Townsend is a freelance writer and rising third-year student at Swarthmore College who is working as a communications intern with ELC. Over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, she spearheaded a journalistic project highlighting college students' realities navigating higher education amid a global shutdown.
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See our website for a full description of job opportunities at ELC, including a postgraduate legal fellowship to start in the fall of 2022. Applicants should be law students graduating in the spring of 2022 or current law clerks. Apply today!
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Education Law Center | 215-238-6970 (Philadelphia)| 412-258-2120 (Pittsburgh)| |
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A copy of the official registration and financial information of the Education Law Center may be obtained from the Department of State by calling toll-free, within Pennsylvania, 1-880-732-0999. Registration does not imply endorsement. |
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