Joint Statement from Education Law Center, Public Interest Law Center on Gov. Shapiro’s Budget Proposal

Education Law Center and Public Interest Law Center commented on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Feb. 4, 2025, budget address and the steps needed to remedy Pennsylvania’s unconstitutional school funding system.

The statement notes: “A child’s time in school is a precious resource that we cannot afford to waste. We urge the General Assembly to take the baton from the governor, shorten the timeline for closing the adequacy gap, increase the basic education and special education line items, enact the cyber charter reform, and commit to a plan to bring our state into compliance. The Constitution requires it.” Read the statement here.

ELC and ACLU Share Guidance for Schools and Families Concerning Immigration Enforcement

Following the Trump Administration’s executive order rescinding the “sensitive locations” policy that barred Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from conducting enforcement actions at schools, playgrounds, and bus stops, the American Civil Liberties Union of Pennsylvania and the Education Law Center have shared a letter of guidance about interacting with ICE with Pennsylvania public school district superintendents and charter school CEOs.  The letter also contains a model “Welcoming Schools” template for adoption by school boards.

Our news release about the joint letter is here.

And here are slides from a presentation on these issues by ELC, ACLU-PA and HIAS-PA, and a recording of the presentation.

Hearing Officer Orders School District to Allow Student Back in School

Following an expedited due process hearing in November, a hearing officer ordered that Shamokin Area School District must allow a fifth-grade student with mental health disabilities to return to school after her unlawful indefinite exclusion.

To address our country’s longstanding discriminatory exclusion of students with disabilities from schools, including a law in Pennsylvania that relieved schools of an obligation to enroll students deemed “uneducable” or “untrainable,” Congress nearly 50 years ago included several important protections in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) to strip schools of their unilateral authority to remove students with disabilities. Unfortunately, ELC still encounters egregious situations where these protections are flouted in violation of students’ rights.

When Shamokin indefinitely barred our eleven-year-old client from returning to school based on a discipline incident and forced her to remain on an asynchronous cyber platform at home without any due process, the hearing officer found “it adhered to no IDEA-compliant process of procedure to support this unilateral decision denying her a legally required education. After preventing her from returning for nearly two months, Shamokin must now allow her back to school and must conduct a functional behavior assessment to identify and address her behavioral needs within the school.

ELC Comments on PHRC Proposed Guidance for Evaluating Claims of Bullying & Harassment under the PHRA

On August 29, 2024 ELC submitted comments to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC) regarding their proposed Guidance on Evaluating Claims of Bullying and Harassment Under the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA). ELC strongly supports the proposed guidance as an important vehicle for clarifying the rights and protections of students. Additionally, ELC recommends that the proposed guidance be revised to delineate and further clarify the definition and nature of harassment, the scope of schools’ liability, to ensure investigations are prompt, independent and comprehensive, and ensure schools proactively implement correction action. We believe that these changes are important to prevent and address the lasting negative impact that harassment and bullying can have on a child’s education.

State Directs School District of Philadelphia to Award Compensatory Education, Revise Procedures for Students with Disabilities at PJJSC

In response to ELC’s systemic complaint filed in March on behalf of students with disabilities at the Philadelphia Juvenile Justice Services Center (PJJSC), the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education recently issued a decision, finding in our favor on all seven issues raised. The ruling requires the School District of Philadelphia to determine compensatory education service awards for over 200 students and to significantly revise its process and procedures for serving students with disabilities placed at the PJJSC.

Our complaint was based on information received from partners and families that students with disabilities at PJJSC failed to receive needed services and inconsistent or intermittent access to instruction or were deprived of classroom instruction due in part to conditions of overcrowding.

The Corrective Investigation Report issued by the Department found in part that students with disabilities failed to receive special education services mandated by their IEPs, progress reports, timely re-evaluations, and that youth placed in admissions or quarantine failed to receive access to classroom instruction at all. The state ordered significant compensatory education services for individually named students and directed the District to determine compensatory education awards for over two hundred students placed at the PJJSC by October 25, 2024.  As a result of our complaint and the ensuing decision, the District must also revise its procedures for: transitioning students to the PJJSC; implementing IEPs; ensuring parent participation and conducting evaluations to assess eligibility for special education services.   

Civil Rights Complaint Highlights Persistent Discriminatory Policies in Pennridge School District

An amended federal civil rights complaint was filed on Aug. 27 against the Pennridge School District in Bucks County. Below is a press release.

(Content warning: The amended complaint linked here contains descriptions of racial epithets and racial and sexual violence, including violence targeting Black students and LGBTQ+ students.)

August 27, 2024 – Nine months after filing a federal civil rights complaint on behalf of parents and students in the Pennridge School District, families and legal advocates today filed an amended complaint alleging that this Bucks County school district continues to perpetuate a “hostile environment” for students of color and LGBTQ+ students.

The amended complaint was filed on behalf of the Bucks County NAACP, the PairUP Society, and affected families by the Education Law Center-PA and the Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

The amended complaint, filed with the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. Department of Education, lays out a pattern of ongoing racist bullying at Pennridge – including targeting Black students with racial slurs – and the district’s refusal to protect students from known and pervasive racial harassment. The complaint further describes anti-LGBTQ+ policies at Pennridge, including the removal of LGBTQ+ materials from libraries and the implementation of a new bathroom policy designed to limit the bathrooms transgender students can use. The intense harassment of LGBTQ+ students and students of color has led some students to transfer to online schooling or other districts to avoid the district’s hostile conditions, while others have suffered emotionally and psychologically, requiring intervention and care.

After years of efforts to bring problems in the schools to light, parents, students, and legal advocates drew wider attention to conditions in Pennridge through an initial federal civil rights complaint filed in November 2023. The complaint asked the school district to directly address race- and sex-based harassment to ensure that it did not recur and to adopt policies that affirmatively foster the inclusion of marginalized students.

 “Students across the area are preparing to go back-to-school, but marginalized students in Pennridge do not truly have equal access to education.” said Cara McClellan, Director of the Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic. “Pennridge has a legal and moral obligation to address race- and sex-based harassment to ensure an inclusive environment for all students.”

In May of 2024, the Office of Civil Rights released guidance clarifying that a school district violates Title VI of the Civil Rights Act if, based on the totality of the circumstances, it “creates, encourages, accepts, tolerates, exacerbates, or leaves unchecked,” an environment that “limits or denies a person’s ability to  participate in or benefit from a school’s education program or activity” based on race, color, or national origin. Title IX provides similar protections based on sex, and the duties of school districts were clarified and expanded by new Title IX regulations that became effective on August 1.   

“The district must be held accountable for creating and sustaining a hostile environment that is literally pushing Black and Brown and LBGTQ+ students out of school or undermining their ability to learn, depriving them of their legal right to education,” said Maura McInerney, legal director of Education Law Center.  

“No child should have to choose between their safety and their education,” said Adrienne King, a Pennridge parent and founder of the PairUP Society, a nonprofit that supports underrepresented students facing bullying in schools. “Pennridge has a duty to foster an inclusive learning environment to protect students of all identities so that they are not prevented from learning simply because of who they are.”

Basic Education Funding Commission Plan Could Be Life-Changing for Pa. Students

The proposal from the bipartisan commission charged with developing a remedy for the state’s unconstitutional school funding system sets targets for adequate funding in every school district, based on student need and current spending in successful districts. In the proposal, adopted Jan. 11, 2024, commissioners acknowledge a total funding shortfall statewide of $5.4 billion and propose to close that shortfall incrementally over seven years. It is now up to the General Assembly and governor to adopt a budget and implementation plan.

Read our joint statement with our co-counsel, the Public Interest Law Center.

ELC Files Complaint Challenging Lack of Education at Allegheny County Jail

December 21, 2023 – A state administrative complaint filed today by the Education Law Center claims that school-age youths with disabilities at the Allegheny County Jail (ACJ) are not receiving a free appropriate public education in contravention of their rights.

Allegheny County Jail serves approximately 2,000 individuals each day who are awaiting adjudication of charges imposed against them. On any given day, this population includes 20-35 youths aged 15-17 and many more youths aged 18-21 years old – all of whom are entitled to a public education. A disproportionate number of these youths are likely students with disabilities who are entitled to receive a “free appropriate public education.” According to the National Disability Rights Network, young people with disabilities make up at least two-thirds of those involved in the juvenile justice system.

The complaint identifies Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) as the host district for students at ACJ responsible for providing educational services to school-age youths. PPS contracts with Allegheny Intermediate Unit (AIU), which manages the school program at the jail.

“ELC filed this complaint to remedy systemic policies and practices that deprive students with disabilities of their right to a free appropriate public education. These policies clearly and unequivocally violate the federal and state disability laws and, due to systemic racism, disproportionately impact Black and Brown students who are victimized most by the school-to-prison pipeline,” said Maura McInerney, legal director at Education Law Center-PA.

According to the complaint, students aged 18 years and older are denied access to the on-grounds school program. Instead, upon turning 18, these students may be offered self-guided study packets to be used completely on their own with access to a teacher once a week; or they are offered a GED program.

“Students who do not have many high school credits are urged to ‘sign themselves out’ of high school and take the GED, regardless of their disability or need for support,” said McInerney. “In one case, a 19-year-old student with significant disabilities received no education at all during his time at ACJ from March to November 2023.”

“Youths in the juvenile justice system or who are placed in adult jails like Allegheny County cannot be deprived of their right to an education, yet that is precisely what is happening here, and it must be remedied,”  McInerney said.

See the complaint.

Civil Rights Complaint Challenges Discriminatory Policies in Pennridge School District

NAACP, PairUP Society, and Bucks County Families File Federal Civil Rights Complaint Challenging Discriminatory School Policies

November 15, 2023 – Several Bucks County families have joined with civil rights and advocacy groups to file a federal civil rights complaint on behalf of parents and students in the Pennridge School District, challenging the District’s discriminatory policies and its “hostile environment rife with race- and sex-based harassment.”

The complaint, filed today to the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) in the U.S. Department of Education and the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division, alleges racially discriminatory and anti-LGBTQ+ policies and practices in Pennridge schools, including a failure to address bullying of students of color and LGBTQ+ students, curriculum changes designed to remove discussion of racism and oppression from classrooms, banning of books that represent diverse experiences, and discriminatory bathroom and sports policies. The complaint asks the District to directly address race- and sex-based harassment to ensure that it does not recur and to adopt policies that affirmatively foster the inclusion of marginalized students.

The complaint was filed on behalf of the Bucks County NAACP, the PairUP Society, and affected families by the Education Law Center-PA and the Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic of the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.

“For years, teachers, students of color, and LGBTQ+ students have reported race- and sex-based harassment, including students routinely using the N-word toward Black students and students threatening violence against LGBTQ+ students,” the complaint states. “But District officials have refused to remedy the systemic and pervasive forms of race- and sex-based harassment.”

“All students deserve safety and dignity at school,” said Karen Downer, president of the Bucks County NAACP, an organization represented in the complaint. “Unfortunately, Pennridge has created an environment that is hostile for some students because of their race, sex, or gender identity.” Title VI and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act prohibit discrimination based on these characteristics, and schools are legally required to take action when they are notified of a hostile environment that prevents some groups of students from fully participating in educational opportunities.

In an investigation that led to the filing of the complaint, advocates spoke to students who described persistent harassment that went unaddressed by administrators, in some cases pushing affected students to switch to online learning or to leave the District entirely. Because of privacy concerns, portions of the stories shared in the complaint are redacted, but they include students of color who faced racist comments at school, as well as LGBTQ+ students who experienced slurs, harassment, and threats of violence.

In response to her child’s experience hearing racial slurs and threats at school, Pennridge parent Adrienne King founded the PairUP Society, a nonprofit that supports underrepresented students facing bullying in schools. “No child should have to choose between their safety and their education,” she said. “Pennridge School District has a duty to protect students of all identities so that they are not prevented from learning simply because of who they are.”

Advocates say that Pennridge has failed to address race- and sex-based harassment, instead exacerbating the hostile environment by disbanding Diversity Equity and Inclusion initiatives, prohibiting teachers from displaying pride flags, limiting discussion of racism in the social studies curriculum, and removing diverse reading materials from the library.

“Our thanks to the brave students and advocates who have faced callous, hostile, and harmful school environments for years but did not give up in the fight to make their school communities better,” said attorney Ashli Giles-Perkins of the Education Law Center. “Pennridge School District has to address the racial and LGBTQ+ discrimination that continues to plague its school community. The situation calls for strong interventions from the federal government.”

“We hope that this lawsuit will be a step towards ensuring future students of all identities can learn and thrive at Pennridge schools,” said Annamarie Hufford-Bucklin, a Penn Carey Law student in the Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic who worked on the complaint.

“The District has an obligation to comply with the Civil Rights Act and to ensure an environment that is inclusive and welcoming to all,” said Keith Matier, a law student in the Advocacy for Racial and Civil Justice Clinic who also worked on the complaint.

State Budget Nearly Finalized; Private School Vouchers Blocked … for Now 

Last night, the Pennsylvania House and Senate finally both approved a new state budget for 2023-24.

With our co-counsel at the Public Interest Law Center, we issued a joint statement on the state budget and the blocking of a private school voucher bill. Read our statement here.

There is critical work to be done in the months ahead to “devise a comprehensive, constitutionally compliant school funding plan to ensure, once and for all, that all children have access to the contemporary, effective system of public education that the constitution mandates, that our children need, and that the decision of the Commonwealth Court requires.”

The fight to fix PA’s unconstitutional funding system must and will continue.

School District of Philadelphia Ordered to Award Compensatory Education Services to Tens of Thousands of Students with Disabilities to Address COVID-Related Deprivations of FAPE

As a result of a complaint filed by ELC on behalf of all children with disabilities in the School District of Philadelphia (District), PDE’s Bureau of Special Education has ordered the District to review and assess data for all students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) and Section 504 accommodations plans to determine necessary make-up services, or compensatory education, owed for deprivations of a free, appropriate public education stemming from COVID school closures. Both PDE and the U.S. Department of Education have made clear that when schools closed, school districts were required to provide compensatory education for denials of the educational rights of students with disabilities.  Following an investigation that spanned multiple months, PDE issued two Complaint Investigation Reports (IEP and 504) finding that the District did not provide these necessary make-up services or make required determinations for all students with disabilities. In the coming months, the District must convene IEP and Section 504 teams for more than 20,000 students with disabilities to determine the make-up services necessary to address educational deprivations stemming from the COVID closures. By September 29, the District must provide a summary of the IEP and 504 meetings and the determinations made to remedy FAPE during the pandemic. If you believe that your child is eligible for these make-up services, contact your child’s school or ELC’s Helpline for more information.

Notably, Pittsburgh Public Schools (PPS) is currently implementing “COVID Compensatory Services 2.0” to ensure that their students receive the make-up services to which they are legally entitled.  You can learn more this ongoing effort at https://www.pghschools.org/ccs including a helpful Parent Pre-Meeting Planning Checklist.   

ELC Comments on Title IX Proposed Rules Regarding Sex Discrimination in School Sports

In May 2023, Education Law Center PA submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rule on sex discrimination in school athletics under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. We support the proposed rule’s prohibition on categorical bans that would prevent transgender, intersex and nonbinary students from participating on teams aligned with their gender identity, and we support additional clarifications in the rule that would ensure K-12 students are not prevented from participation based on sex stereotypes.  This guidance is particularly important as transgender students in Pennsylvania are being targeted through proposed statewide legislation and multiple school districts considering or implementing policies that prevent students from participating in a school sports team, as well as other discriminatory policies. Playing sports is associated with higher grades and standardized test scores, and teaches students about teamwork and fosters connectedness to school community. All students deserve equal access to these benefits.

Chester County Intermediate Unit Approves $3 Million Settlement in Glen Mills Schools Class Action Suit to Benefit Former Students

In January 2023, a settlement fund was established for former Glen Mills Schools students. Those who are eligible may receive cash payments, compensatory education services, or a combination of these remedies.

Education Law Center, Juvenile Law Center, and Dechert LLP filed the proposed class action lawsuit in April 2019 on behalf of former students and their parents. The complaint was filed in the wake of the closing of the facility by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services in response to findings of pervasive abuse and intimidation against students by Glen Mills Schools residential staff and leadership.

The lawsuit alleged significant violations of the civil rights of former students, including that students were unsafe, subjected to extreme and sustained physical and emotional abuse, and deprived of any meaningful education. The abuse had a particularly dire impact on Black students, sent to Glen Mills in disproportionate numbers, as well as students with disabilities and special education needs, whose educational rights were ignored.

Visit GlenMillsSettlement.org to find some questions and answers about the settlement fund and agreement, including information about eligibility, background information about the Glen Mills Schools and the class action lawsuit, updates, application forms, and more details about how to apply.

Former students and their families who have additional questions or want to learn more about whether a former student is eligible for settlement funds created by the CCIU agreement may email [email protected] or leave a message on the Glen Mills Settlement Helpline at 267-515-6853.

ELC Praises New State Regulation Protecting Against Anti-LGBTQ and Racial Discrimination 

ELC applauds the adoption of the Pennsylvania Human Rights Commission’s final regulation putting in place new significant new nondiscrimination protections for Pennsylvania students. It provides important protections for LGBTQ students, who have been increasingly subjected to discrimination, hostility, and exclusion in our schools. The new regulation also provides a more comprehensive definition of the term race, including ethnic characteristics and traits historically associated with race and specifically including hair texture and protective hairstyles. Read our full statement here.

Resources for Inclusive Schools and Honest Education

Welcoming and inclusive schools that provide honest, accurate information to our children give them the freedom to pursue their dreams and prepare them to fully participate in a diverse society.

Today there are organized national and local efforts targeting Black, Brown and LGBTQ students, erasing those populations from the curriculum and programs. These efforts threaten to undermine public schools by inflaming and dividing parents. They are banning books, banning the teaching of accurate history, and threatening teachers with lawsuits. They are trying to silence the voices of LGBTQ families and people of color. These actions are happening at school boards and in the state legislature.

Parents, students, faith leaders, business leaders, and community members working together can protect our schools, support student learning, and fight against these actions. We must make our voices heard.

ELC produces information and materials for parents, students, and community members to use as resources and samples in their advocacy efforts. Find them here.

ELC Comments on Title IX Proposed Rules – Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex

Education Law Center has submitted comments in response to the U.S. Department of Education’s proposed rules on Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. ELC’s concerns focus on the impact of the proposed amended regulations on students in Pennsylvania’s publicly-funded PreK-12 schools, including Black girls, who are more likely to be subject to sexual harassment and to be stereotyped and
disciplined for defending themselves against such harassment in school.

While we celebrate the progress that has been made in the 50 years since Title IX was passed, sex-based harassment and discrimination remains a very significant problem in preK-12 schools in Pennsylvania and across the country. Sexual harassment in K-12 schools is understudied, but nearly half of students experience sexual harassment at school, and 87% of those students said that the harassment had a negative effect on them.” In particular, Black girls are often ignored or punished when they complain to their schools about sex-based harassment and discrimination, which reinforces the under-reporting of these incidents.

Read ELC’s comments here.

Law Centers’ Joint Statement on 2022-23 State Budget

Legislative leaders announced an agreement on July 7, 2022, on the 2022-23 state budget, including a $525 million increase in state funding for basic education, $225 million for a Level Up supplement to the 100 most deeply underfunded school districts, a $100 million increase in special education funding, and $200 million in grants to school districts for mental health and school safety.

Attorneys from Education Law Center-PA and the Public Interest Law Center, representing school districts, parents, and organizations in a case challenging Pennsylvania’s system for funding public schools, released a joint statement, calling the increased education funding “an important step to start closing funding gaps,” but noting that “it does not ensure that students in every community can receive the high-quality education they’re entitled to under the state Constitution.”

Read the statement here.

ELC Open Letter to Hempfield School Board Calls for Rejection of Prohibition on Trans Athletes

Responding to to concerns from parents and community members in Hempfield (Pa.) School District, ELC sent this open letter that urges opposition to proposed prohibitions on transgender students’ participation in school sports. We call for the school board and district to reject the proposed policy because it illegally discriminates against transgender students. We urge the board to instead undertake its duty to affirmatively protect the rights of LGBTQ students. Read the open letter here.