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. This year, ELC will be honoring three remarkable, lifelong champions for equitable education:
• A leading voice for equity in Philadelphia schools for decades, Rochelle Nichols-Solomon has been an advocate for parent empowerment, has developed programs to ensure post-secondary success for underserved students, and is currently a leader with the organizing group POWER on the fight for fair funding in Pennsylvania.
• Advocate, educator, philanthropist, and physician, Barbara Klock is the medical officer for the School District of Philadelphia, where she has guided efforts to promote vaccinations among families and worked with students to make videos countering misinformation about the coronavirus vaccine.
• Kristen Tsapis has been a steadfast ally to immigrant and refugee communities in Pittsburgh, providing assistance, advocacy, educational support, and outreach to Somali Bantu refugee families for nearly two decades.
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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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School Will Allow Evidence of Racial Disparities in School Funding Trial |
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With the start of trial in the school funding lawsuit fast approaching, we won a significant court ruling on July 28 allowing evidence showing racial disparities in school funding. House Speaker Bryan Cutler had asked the judge to exclude evidence about racial disparities from the case, but the Commonwealth Court ruling acknowledged that such evidence is highly relevant to the case and to a decision on our claim that our state constitution mandates that ALL children receive a quality education.
Earlier, Commonwealth Court also ruled in our favor on July 23 by denying Sen. Jake Corman’s request to preclude post-2014 evidence, including testimony highlighting how a lack of resources has disproportionately impacted schoolchildren in low-wealth districts during COVID-19.
The trial starts September 9 at the Pennsylvania Judicial Center in Harrisburg and will continue daily through much of the fall. The case continues to draw substantial attention in the media. We hope you will make plans to attend a day or more of this historic trial in person. A livestream will also be available. Check the FundOurSchoolsPA website — a joint project of ELC and the Public Interest Law Center — for details; sign up for regular email briefings during the trial. And follow the Education Law Center on Facebook and Twitter for frequent updates.
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More on Deadline for Families to Opt to Repeat a Grade Due to COVID
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During the last month, ELC worked in collaboration with parents, advocates, and other community members to get the word out about Act 66, a new Pennsylvania law that creates new rights for families and students. Act 66 allows students with disabilities who would have otherwise “aged out” of special education during the 2020-2021 school year to remain in school for an additional year. The law also allows parents of all children under 18 (regardless of disability) to choose to have their child repeat the year due to concerns about education disruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Students aged 18 or older are also entitled to elect to repeat the year. Listen to the July 12 episode of WHYY’s Radio Times: ELC staff attorney Margie Wakelin discusses Act 66 and what factors parents could consider in making this choice.
While Act 66 put the decision to retain a child squarely in the hands of parents (or students, if 18 or older), the law required that this important decision be made by July 15. Some school districts have agreed to extend the deadline to allow families to exercise their rights under Act 66. If interested, contact your school immediately to determine if you can still pursue this option.
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Congratulations, Jorge! Advocacy for School Supports Helps Student Graduate |
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Independence Foundation Law Fellow Sophia Tan recently closed a case representing “Gina,” the parent of “Jorge,” a recent high school graduate from Chester County. Four years ago, Jorge was evaluated and identified as eligible for special education due to unmet academic support needs. He continued to experience barriers to his learning, including multiple incidents of avoiding certain classes where he received inconsistent or minimal accommodations for his disability, despite his legal entitlement to more support. When ELC first engaged with Jorge two years ago, the school was ready to refer him for truancy.
After attending multiple meetings, Sophia worked with the school team, Gina, and Jorge to develop individualized supports throughout the school day to address Jorge’s needs through his IEP. Though he experienced additional disruptions during the pandemic, Jorge and Gina worked with the school team to identify core classes and check-ins with his teachers that would accelerate his learning. This June, Jorge achieved his goal of graduating from high school on time. We are excited for Jorge’s bright future ahead!
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Independence Foundation Fellow Sophia Tan: An Appreciation |
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August is the final month of attorney Sophia Tan’s two-year Independence Foundation legal fellowship at ELC. Sophia has provided unwavering, passionate advocacy on behalf of immigrant, refugee, and asylee students and families in the Philadelphia area — and assistance to nearly 100 families, which led to an improved understanding of the rights of English learners and multilingual families in over 50 schools.
Sophia brings thoughtfulness and a fierce commitment to equity to each of her cases, whether advocating for families who were told — contrary to the law — that they had to wait for a special education evaluation until their child’s English skills improved; or parents improperly denied the right to participate in their child’s education because the school failed to provide translation and interpretation services.
Sophia has offered critical legal advice and support to ELC’s partner agencies during the COVID-19 crisis that presented particular challenges for multilingual families or families with technology needs. Sophia’s efforts, in partnership with others serving multilingual families, are responsible for dramatically improving city services for internet access and digital literacy support and shifting the virtual delivery of English language instruction to better meet the needs of English learners in the School District of Philadelphia. Thanks to Sophia’s understanding of multilingual families’ needs, ELC made clear, comprehensive recommendations for schools’ investment of federal stimulus funds to support immigrant families (and others) most affected by COVID-19. We will miss Sophia and all her thoughtful contributions. We are deeply grateful to the Independence Foundation for their support and to Sophia for her powerful advocacy that leaves our communities stronger and better informed.
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ELC Highlights Need to Address Re-Entry: The Prison to School Pipeline |
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Thanks to the work of Ashli Giles-Perkins, our Independence Foundation Public Interest Law Fellow, ELC submitted comments in July on nondiscriminatory administration of school discipline in response to a Request for Information from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). ELC’s comments commended OCR’s data collection on discriminatory and disparate discipline in schools but emphasized that the school-to-prison pipeline persists, in part, because the existing data and research largely ignore what happens to students who have already been pushed out of schools.
ELC's comments called for greater monitoring of the educational progress of students in residential facilities and for guidance to ensure that residential facilities respect the rights of their students to be free from discrimination based on race, disability, and language. We hope that our comments will prompt OCR to address the lasting impacts of the school-to-prison pipeline and other school-based pathways to confinement, and reduce barriers to re-entry through the implementation of more comprehensive systemic solutions.
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Infomercial Highlights Need for Mental Health Support for Black Girls |
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ELC Equal Justice Works fellow Essence Kimes worked with the Youth Advocacy Network and the Beaver County Youth Ambassadors Program to create an infomercial highlighting the mental health needs of Black girls as a part of their commemoration of “Minority Mental Health Awareness Month.” The infomercial elevated the importance of schools increasing the number of culturally competent counselors, psychologists, and social workers available to support Black girls. ELC’s work seeks to support Black girls and ensure that schools are providing needed mental health supports and are actively working to eliminate toxic school conditions, rooted in systemic racism, sexism, and ableism. |
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Spread the Word: Kindergarten Registration Still Open |
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There is still time to register your child for kindergarten! Schools across the Commonwealth are gearing up for a busy August when, for many, they will be welcoming back students in-person for the first time since the beginning of the pandemic. This includes kindergartners! The benefits of kindergarten are well-documented and far-reaching. Families that have not already registered children should take steps now to ensure that they are enrolled and ready to attend on the first day of school. In the School District of Philadelphia, you can register online or at your neighborhood school, which you can find here. In Pittsburgh Public Schools, you can find out information about kindergarten registration here.
To register your child for kindergarten, you will need to show proof of age (usually a birth certificate, but there is other acceptable proof of age that can be used), proof of residency (examples here), and proof of immunizations. If your child is experiencing homelessness or in foster care, they do not need any of these ordinarily required documents to enroll. We know that many children may have fallen behind on immunizations due to the pandemic. Make an appointment with your doctor now! To help families understand their immunization rights, ELC has a fact sheet that families can use to learn more about their rights.
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ELC seeks an attorney for a full-time position in our Philadelphia office. Primary duties for this position will focus on impact litigation and direct representation of clients and will also include working with community partners and informing our policy advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels. The candidate should have a demonstrated commitment to racial justice, public interest law, civil rights, and advancing the rights of underserved populations. Please click here for a full description of the position, job requirements, and application instructions.
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Isabella Grullón Paz for the New York Times
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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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