COVID-19 school closures have had a significant impact on students with disabilities and their families. ELC compiled this resource with 5 important things for students with disabilities and their families to know.
At the October 2018 action meeting of the Philadelphia School Board, ELC offered testimony supporting a proposal that would increase transitional training and support services for students with disabilities. Federal and state law require transition planning for every child beginning at age 14, including requiring school districts to provide every child with a disability with comprehensive services that will help them transition from school to post-school-life. ELC highlighted the need for additional transitional training and support services for Philadelphia schoolchildren with disabilities and highlighted the role of inadequate state funding and charters in impacting the district’s ability to provide these needed services.
View ELC’s full testimony here: October 2018 School Board Testimony.
Reynelle Brown Staley testifying at the Philadelphia School Board Action meeting.
Delco News Network quotes ELC Legal Director Maura McInerney in an article on Governor Wolf and Senator Joe Scarnati’s opposing briefs on the legal status of ELC’s school funding lawsuit. They write: “‘The governor recognizes that our public school children continue to suffer the painful consequences of underfunded schools every day. He understands that their need for justice is now,’ said Maura McInerney. ‘There can be no question that a dispute continues to exist regarding the adequacy and equity of Pennsylvania’s broken school funding system.'” Read more here.
Public News Source quotes ELC Legal Fellow Sean McGrath on the availability of early intervention services in the state of Pennsylvania. Read more here.
“Not only has Pennsylvania’s new school-funding formula failed to remedy disparities between wealthy and poor public school districts, the spending gap between such districts has grown, according to a filing Friday by plaintiffs in a landmark funding lawsuit,” Maddie Hanna of Philly.com writes, on ELC’s fair funding suit. Read more here.
The Inquirer reports on education advocate Jean Searle’s success in reuniting with her son, who had been taken from her while she was institutionalized many years prior. The article quotes ELC Legal Director Maura McInerney, who helped Searle reunite with her child. Read more here.
ELC Executive Director Deborah Gordon Klehr writes a letter to the editor in the Delco Times addressing the pervasive challenges underfunded school districts have in meeting the needs of special education students. Read more here.
WHYY reports on poor conditions in Philadelphia-area juvenile detention centers, quoting ELC Legal Director Maura McInerney. Read more here.
The Inquirer reports on ELC’s fair funding lawsuit and its continued progress toward trial. Read more here.
WHYY reports on residency enforcement policies that disproportionately affect students of color, quoting ELC Legal Director Maura McInerney. Read more here.
The Sanatoga Post writes about the two dozen advocacy organizations that worked together to pressure Pennsylvania lawmakers to increase the money available for special education purposes. The article quotes ELC Attorney Reynelle Brown Staley. Read here.
The Notebook reports on ELC’s fair funding case and its progress toward trial, quoting ELC Legal Director Maura McInerney. Read more here.
Public Source quotes ELC Attorney Cheryl Kleiman on whether or not arming school personnel increases school safety. Read more.
ELC Executive Director Deborah Gordon Klehr is featured in Generocity‘s article on women leading public interest law organizations in Philadelphia. Read more here.
Triblive quotes ELC Executive Director Deborah Gordon Klehr on the legal implications in Pennsylvania of President Trump’s proposal to train and arm teachers with firearms. Read more.
WHYY quotes ELC Executive Director Deborah Gordon Klehr on Governor Wolf’s proposed budget. “Our children need more,” Klehr writes. Read more here.
ELC Executive Director Deborah Gordon Klehr writes about the bias in school discipline against students of color and argues that school suspensions in under-resourced schools often do more harm than good. Read more here.
Newsweek article cites ELC report highlighting how state underfunding of schools deepens inequity. Read more here.
View Section 504 Factsheet to learn about what a parent can do if their child has a health problem that requires accommodations in school.