March 12, 2015 – by Karen Langley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – HARRISBURG — Seeking to stymie a legal challenge to how Pennsylvania pays for its public schools, lawyers for the state told a panel of judges Wednesday that education funding is not a matter for the courts to decide. Continue reading
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School districts sue Department of Education over low funding
March 11, 2015 – by Katie Kyros, Fox43 – On Wednesday, attorneys for Pennsylvania school districts made arguments in Commonwealth Court that education funding in the state is so low, it’s unconstitutional. Continue reading
School Funding Suit Against State Advances Despite Promises From Wolf
March 11, 2015 – by Joel Mathis, Philadelphia Magazine – It’s time for Pennsylvania’s courts to force the state legislature to properly fund state schools, attorneys representing a coalition of money-hungry school districts argued today before the Commonwealth Court at Harrisburg. Continue reading
School-funding system ‘broken,’ Pa. judges hear
March 11, 2015 – by Kristen Graham, Philadelphia Inquirer – Pennsylvania’s system of education funding is broken, and the courts must force lawmakers to make it right, attorneys for school districts, parents, and organizations that have sued the commonwealth told a panel of judges here Wednesday.
Attorneys to Court: Hear our case on behalf of Pennsylvania students
March 11, 2015 – Parents, advocates, and school district personnel descended on Commonwealth Court today to hear arguments against legislative leaders, state education officials, and Pennsylvania’s Governor for failure to uphold the state’s constitutional obligation to provide a thorough and efficient system of public education. Continue reading
We must address disparities in school discipline and decrease suspensions
March 4, 2015 – Letter to the Editor, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – The Feb. 25 editorial “A Place to Learn: Student Suspension Has a Role in Keeping Order” disregards decades of well-established research and best practices to promote regressive school policies.
ELC Supports Governor’s Proposal to Restore School Funding Cuts
March 4, 2015 – The Education Law Center supports Governor Wolf’s proposal to restore $400 million in state funding to local school districts. The proposal directs critical resources to schools unable to meet the needs of students.
Pittsburgh Board of Ed to Improve Transition Services for Students with Disabilities
Feb. 24, 2015 – The Education Law Center applauds the Pittsburgh Board of Education for passing a resolution that promotes inclusive, comprehensive, and community-based transition services for all students and particularly students with disabilities.
Pittsburgh schools work with community groups to reduce suspensions
Feb. 23, 2015 – By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – Last school year, the number of suspensions in Pittsburgh Public Schools dropped 15 percent over the prior year, but still more than 9,900 suspensions were issued, nearly three-fourths of them to black students.
Oral Argument Set in PA School Funding Lawsuit
Feb. 19, 2015 – The Commonwealth Court will hear oral argument in William Penn School District, et al., v. Pennsylvania Department of Education, et al. on Wednesday, March 11th at 9:30 a.m. in Harrisburg. This case challenges the failure of legislative leaders, state education officials, and Pennsylvania’s Governor to uphold their constitutional obligation to provide a thorough and efficient system of public education. Continue reading
York City School District questions await Wolf team
Jan. 18, 2015 – By Angie Mason, York Daily Record – With the appointment of a York City School District receiver put on hold, many are now looking at how Gov.-elect Tom Wolf could intervene when he takes office next week.
OP-ED: Speaking up for parents and vulnerable students in York City
Jan. 13, 2015 – By Maura McInerney, Education Law Center – In two years since being appointed Chief Recovery Officer for the York City School District, David Meckley has produced nothing more than an ill-conceived privatization scheme to convert the 7,500-student school district into charter schools run by the for-profit company, Charter Schools USA.
ELC Webinar on School Climate and Discipline for Youth in Foster Care
Join ELC for this hour-long webinar highlighting current best practices, policies, and tools that can improve school climate for all students, and especially those in the child welfare system. The webinar was developed for educators, school administrators, teachers, and advocates, and guides participants through the Legal Center on Foster Care and Education’s new tool on school discipline.
ELC Commends Feds on New Correctional Education Guidance
Dec. 11, 2014 – The Education Law Center commends the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education on issuing new joint guidance on Correctional Education.
The guidance, released this week, not only encourages states to focus on prevention to reduce the number of children sent to juvenile correctional facilities, but also emphasizes the importance of providing high quality education to students while they are in those facilities.
“A key ingredient to success for a youth leaving a juvenile justice placement is the transition back to a traditional school setting,” said ELC’s Stoneleigh Emerging Leader Fellow Ashley Sawyer. “But, because of the grossly inadequate education many receive while locked up, the rate of successful transition is low and the rate of drop-out is high.”
The guidance reminds facilities that the same civil rights laws that apply to traditional public schools apply to facilities providing educational services. And these protections extend to all students, including students with disabilities. In addition, the guidance makes clear that students in juvenile correctional facilities, who otherwise meet eligibility criteria, are eligible for federal need-based grants for post-secondary education.
“Our staff at ELC has long-advocated for children in juvenile correctional facilities, including children with disabilities, who are legally entitled to a full range of educational services,” said ELC Interim Executive Director Deborah Gordon Klehr. “Far too many children are sent to correctional facilities, and too often these children do not receive an appropriate education while in placement,” she said.
According to the Annie E. Casey Foundation, 44 other states and the District of Columbia have all reduced the number of children placed in juvenile correctional facilities, said Sawyer, who will work to ensure this new guidance is implemented in Pennsylvania.
“Pennsylvania is, unfortunately, one of a few states that has actually increased the number of students placed in juvenile correctional facilities,” she said.
Read the Washington Post article.
Pennsylvania schools sue state in bid to reform funding
Philadelphia’s shift in discipline policy
Dec. 9, 2014 – By Dan Hardy, Philadelphia Public School Notebook – In the wake of the catastrophic Columbine school shooting in 1999, many school district leaders, politicians, and police summed up their response to school violence with two words: zero tolerance.
Infractions that once might have prompted a discussion of motive and intention instead often led to immediate, automatic suspensions, expulsions, and calls to police.
Commentary: State needs a rational fix for its method of funding charter students with disabilities
Dec. 1, 2014 – by David Lapp, Education Law Center – Pennsylvania’s calculation for funding special education in charter schools is broken. In Philadelphia, special education tuition paid by the District to charter schools has doubled from $11,000 per student to over $23,000 per student in just 12 years. During the same period, special education revenue to the District from the state stagnated at under $5,000 per student.
ELC Letter Opposing Cyber Charter Expansion
Nov. 24, 2014 – The Education Law Center submitted a letter to Pennsylvania’s Secretary of Education Carolyn Dumaresq urging her to reject the latest round of cyber charter school applications based on the continued lack of accountability for these schools, which have shown poor academic results, excessive amounts of student turnover, and periodic criminal fiscal negligence.
Suit calls state school funding arbitrary and irrational
Nov. 23, 2014 – By Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette – In 1999, the state Supreme Court ruled that the question of state school funding was a political issue for the Legislature, not one for the judiciary.
Now, a new lawsuit filed in Commonwealth Court last week once again seeks a judicial order, this time armed with state test results showing schools failing to meet state academic standards and a study commissioned by the Legislature quantifying the disparity in resources.
Op-Ed: School funding shouldn’t be ‘accident of geography’
Nov. 16, 2014 – By Jennifer Desmarais, Special to LNP – As a school board member in the School District of Lancaster, I am proud to serve my community by attending monthly meetings, participating on district task forces, and being visible in our school community.