May 16, 2014 – by William Bender and Solomon Leach, Philadelphia Daily News – Fifth-graders have been sent to kindergarten. An eighth-grader was banished to first grade.
Draconian “behavior contracts” stipulate to whom certain children can speak and where they can eat breakfast.
These are among the incidents that have fueled concerns at Bache-Martin Elementary in Fairmount this year, and left parents asking: What has happened to our school?
May 12, 2014 – Editorial, Allentown Morning Call – Pennsylvania faces a long-term challenge in public education and economic development. Current policies are defining the haves and have-nots statewide. It’s not good for students, and it’s bad for local economies.
However, the angst being heard in some communities may help to explain the election-year momentum and optimism for changes to public school funding in Harrisburg. With bills moving through the Legislature to address basic education funding and school construction, minds are changing all the way up to the governor’s mansion.
There are two foundational state funding streams that schools depend on — basic education funding for operations and school construction dollars.
Join fellow Philadelphia lawyers to tell City Council that Philadelphia cannot function without good public schools, and high-quality public schools require adequate funding.
Philadelphia’s schools can’t provide the basic programs and services our children need to have an opportunity to learn —class sizes have grown, counselors and nurses reduced, libraries closed. The local economy on which the legal community depends will continue to decline without a strong system of public education.
While the state education budget continues to be inadequate and inequitable, there are options to provide local funding. City Council can move on those options now, but needs encouragement to secure the resources necessary for our schools.
WHO: Leading Philadelphia Attorneys
WHAT: Take Action on School Funding
WHERE: Outside City Hall, North Broad Street entrance
WHEN: Thursday, April 24, 11:45 a.m.
RSVP today! http://www.eventbrite.com/e/lawyers-day-of-action-for-education-tickets-8171817125
April 15, 2014 – by Julia Bergman, Axis Philly – Ask the average Philadelphian what their top concern is and they’re likely to say education.
The city has become a battleground for debates over fair and sufficient funding for public schools. At the forefront of that debate is what many consider debilitating cuts to education made by Gov. Tom Corbett.
Read the full story: http://axisphilly.org/article/the-haves-and-have-nots-of-education-spending/
March 31, 2014 – WHYY, Radio Times – New information released by the Department of Education shed more light on a disturbing difference when it comes to school discipline — minority students are suspended at a much higher rate than white students. The same applies to expulsions and harsher punishments and the problem is particularly acute in Pennsylvania. With more research to show that zero tolerance policies are ineffective, some educators are rethinking the whys and hows of school discipline.
WHYY’s Radio Times talks to Harold Jordan of the ACLU of Pennsylvania, Deborah Klehr of the Education Law Center, and University of Pennsylvania education professor Matthew Steinberg about the issues around school suspensions, expulsions and even arrests, particularly when it comes to minority students.
March 25, 2014 – by Kevin McCorry, Newsworks – Philadelphia School District has directed school police officers to stop responding to calls related to Level 1 student conduct offenses. The proscribed violations range from “failure to follow classroom rules” to “truancy” to “verbal altercations” to “inappropriate touching/public displays of affection.”
Based on the Education Law Center’s legal complaintthe U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into discriminatory placement of students in Pennsylvania’s Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth programs.
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March 9, 2014 – David Lapp, Special to the Sunday News – Significant problems exist with Pennsylvania’s current charter school policy, and we agree with state Sen. Lloyd Smucker that charter school reform is needed in the commonwealth.
February 21, 2014 – Based on the Education Law Center’s legal complaint, the U.S. Department of Justice has opened an investigation into discriminatory placement of students in Pennsylvania’s Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth programs.
February 7, 2014 – by Kevin McCorry, Newsworks – Here’s an accurate headline you could have written about Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s budget address earlier this week: Corbett calls for $387 million in increased state education funding.
But many education advocates are quick to say that hardly tells the full story.
February 6, 2014 – Governor Corbett’s education budget proposal includes welcome increases for special education and early learning but ignores the need for a stable and comprehensive approach to education funding.
January 16, 2014 – Teenage brothers, who were disenrolled from the Easton Area School District because their family was experiencing homelessness, are back in school as a result of legal action by the Education Law Center.
The Law Center filed the case in early December when the students — one of whom is in 12th grade — were abruptly disenrolled from Easton Area High School because they lived with their parents in a camper outside the district.
“The federal McKinney-Vento Act requires school districts to continue to educate students experiencing homelessness even when they are living outside their prior district. The Act also requires the state to ensure that school districts comply with this law in part by resolving enrollment disputes,” said Maura McInerney, ELC Staff Attorney.
In response to ELC’s motion for a preliminary injunction and presentation of the dispute to the court, the District agreed to re-enroll the children days later.
A record number of public school students have become homeless in Pennsylvania and in the nation, putting more than 1.1 million children nationally at increased risk of falling behind in school, dropping out and perpetuating the cycle of homelessness. In Pennsylvania, the number of K-12 students experiencing homelessness increased to 19,905 in 2012 from 18,531 the previous year, an increase of 7 percent. In the nation, the number of homeless students increased by 10 percent, according to October 2013 data from the U.S. Department of Education.
The Law Center has urged the state to adopt guidance to improve the dispute resolution process for families and to ensure that what happened to these students will not happen to others.
“We have asked the state to issue guidance explaining that school districts cannot unilaterally disenroll students based on the duration of homelessness, and that families must be notified — in writing — of the basis of any decision to deny enrollment, including the resolution of appeals to the state. Children have the right to stay in school as long as a dispute is pending,” said McInerney.
The family has since secured permanent housing within the District, and ELC has withdrawn its lawsuit.
“This is a terrific outcome for these students and this family,” said McInerney.
CONTACT:
Brett Schaeffer
Education Law Center
[email protected]
Office: 215-238-6970 ext. 334
Mobile: 215-519-6522
January 14, 2014 – Bill Hangley, Jr., The Philadelphia Public School Notebook – If supporters of universal enrollment were hoping for a ringing endorsement from parents and families on Monday night, they didn’t get it.
Join Education Law Center attorney Maura McInerney as she presents a webinar for families of students with disabilities who are home schooled, educated in cyber charter schools, charter schools, private schools or parochial schools.
January 08, 2014 – Solomon Leach, Philadelphia Daily News – The battle over fair and equitable school funding in Pennsylvania will soon be headed back to court, activists said yesterday.
January 6, 2014 – Kevin McCorry, Newsworks - Fewer teachers. No school building. No heating bill. Same cost. You’d think Pennsylvania’s 16 cyber-charter schools, which teach home-based students via the Web, would spend a lot less per student than bricks and mortar schools. Not so.
On December 16, Juvenile Law Center and Education Law Center-PA hosted a webinar to provide information on how to protect and advance the education rights of your clients through effective courtroom practices. This webinar is targeted to family court judges, attorneys, court staff, and other child-serving professionals.
December 12, 2013 – by Peter Panepinto, The Express-Times – Two Easton Area School District students who were kicked out of the district on Monday because they are homeless and staying outside the district will be allowed to return to school pending a judge’s ruling on their lawsuit.
November 23, 2013 – By Martha Woodall, Philadelphia Inquirer – The Education Law Center on Thursday urged the Pennsylvania Department of Education to deny applications for six new cyber charter schools, saying the cyber charter model doesn’t work.