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…
MoreRead ELC’s New Special Education Funding Report
The Education Law Center’s new report Fixing the Special Education Funding Gap details the large decline in the state share of special education funding over the past decade. Inadequate funding for basic education and special education programs creates a dual funding gap, one that particularly affects students in low wealth school districts. These districts serve…
MoreELC and Partners Call for Mask Mandate
The Education Law Center, alongside four dozen partner organizations throughout Pennsylvania, called for a universal mask mandate for all Pennsylvania public schools, with appropriate exceptions for students and school staff with qualifying disabilities. You can read the letter to the governor and secretaries of education and health here and the letter to the General Assembly…
MoreELC Files Comments with FCC to Ensure Equity in Implementation of Emergency Connectivity Fund
On April 23, 2021 the Education Law Center submitted comments to the Federal Communications Commission urging the agency to implement its newly adopted Emergency Connectivity Fund in a manner that will prioritize students who were most marginalized by lack of connectivity during COVID-19. We also urged the Commission to adapt connected devices to meet the…
MoreOpen Letter to PA Special Education Funding Commission from PA Schools Work Campaign
The Special Education Funding Commission of the Pennsylvania legislature reconvened August 27, 2019, for the first time in nearly six years to examine the impact of the 2014 funding formula that now directs state special education funding. Education Law Center joined with the statewide PA Schools Work campaign to issue an open letter with a…
MoreELC Joins Civil Rights Organizations in Issuing New Report Challenging Curtailment of Important Protections for Children of Color
ELC joined more than a dozen other civil rights organizations in releasing a new report highlighting the ways the Trump Administration is aggressively and intentionally limiting the civil rights protections of children and youth of color in schools. The Report was prepared by the Civil Rights Roundtable, a national coalition of organizations and academic professionals…
MoreOCDEL Releases Two New Policy Announcements to Address Exclusionary Discipline and Promote Inclusion in Early Childhood Learning Programs
ELC praises the Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) for release of two new policy announcements that now make clear its commitment to decrease exclusionary discipline and increase inclusion in all its early childhood learning programs across Pennsylvania. With ELC’s leadership and support for public comments and extensive parent, provider, and community engagement, OCDEL…
MoreRelease: Lawsuit Challenges School District of Philadelphia’s Failure to Translate Documents and Interpret for Parents with Limited English Proficiency and their Children with Disabilities
“When parents are shut out of the special education process, students suffer: they are denied access to critical services they need to make progress. This is why our civil rights and disability laws are so clear on the obligations of schools to provide language assistance to parents and students,” said Maura McInerney, Senior Attorney at Education Law Center.
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