Education Law Center
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What is ELC?

Since 1975, the Education Law Center of Pennsylvania (ELC) has worked to make good public education a reality for Pennsylvania’s most vulnerable children – poor children, children of color, children with disabilities, English language learners, children in foster homes and institutions, and others.

Our strategies include not only “traditional” legal work, but also training and information-sharing; advocating for new laws and policies in Harrisburg and Washington; and working with organizations and media. We’re especially proud of our many collaborations with citizen groups around the state.

ELC’s work falls into three major areas:

  • Making sure that all children have access to school and school programs. We work to eliminate practices that make it difficult or impossible for a child to enroll in school, or that deny children access to school programs on the basis of disability, English language learner status, homelessness, or other factors.
  • Providing families (and those who work with them) reliable, understandable information about education laws and policies. Through publications, training materials, and training events, we try to de-mystify the rules and help people understand how to deal with common problems.
  • Improving schools. We work with local and statewide groups on getting more funding for our neediest schools; making sure that teachers are prepared to meet the needs of diverse learners; promoting programs of positive behavior support in schools; and more.

ELC’s offices are located in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. Please explore our site to get a more detailed sense of our projects and priorities.

Our services are free, which means that fund-raising is always a top concern. We have been fortunate to have many generous funders. We also rely heavily on individuals. We hope you’ll make a donation to help keep our services available. And we appreciate your interest in our work.

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