ELC Testifies in Support of Establishing Youth Ombudsman
ELC testified on April 8 in support of a recommendation to establish a Youth Ombudsman Office in the city of Philadelphia to receive and investigate grievances from families and youth who have been committed to privately run residential facilities by the behavioral health, intellectual disability, child welfare, and juvenile justice systems. Read our testimony here.
MoreELC Testifies before PA Juvenile Justice Task Force
ELC attorneys Ashli Giles Perkins and Maura McInerney testified before the Pennsylvania Juvenile Justice Task Force on April 14 about needed reforms to meet the educational needs of students in the juvenile justice system. Read our testimony here and here.
MoreLetter: Investigate Educational Deprivations, Civil Rights Violations at Delco Juvenile Detention Center
In a letter to Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro on March 25, Education Law Center and other child-serving organizations have highlighted that children placed at the Delaware County Juvenile Detention Center, in addition to the other horrific abuses they were subjected to, were deprived of their constitutional and civil right to an education and discriminated…
MoreNational Report Exposes Harmful Academic Credit Transfer Policies, Practices for Youth in Juvenile Justice System
Philadelphia, PA (October 8, 2020): Juvenile Law Center, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Education Law Center-PA have released the report Credit Overdue: How States Can Mitigate Academic Credit Transfer Problems for Youth in the Juvenile Justice System. The report details the problems facing tens of thousands of youth on any given day in our country…
MoreCeaseFirePA, Education Law Center Statement on Bill Authorizing Arming More School Personnel
Senate Bill 621, which broadens the categories of school personnel who can carry weapons in schools, approved by the Pennsylvania legislature, was signed into law by Gov. Tom Wolf on July 2, 2019. The Education Law Center and CeaseFirePA had opposed the bill and urged the governor to veto it. In a joint statement on…
MoreClass Action Suit Against Glen Mills Schools and Pa. Officials Cites Abuse of Children, Deprivation of Education
Lawyers from the Education Law Center, Juvenile Law Center, and Dechert LLP filed a class action lawsuit April 11 in Philadelphia on behalf of hundreds of youth who were held at Glen Mills Schools, a residential facility located in Delaware County. This site, the oldest reform school in the country, housed as many as 1,000…
MoreResponse to Rescission of Federal School Discipline Guidance and to School Safety Recommendations
The widespread problem of racial discrimination in school discipline is well documented. The 2014 federal discipline guidance from the Obama administration formally recognized that for the first time and challenged exclusionary discipline practices that disproportionately impact students of color and students with disabilities. A December 18, 2018, report from the Federal Commission on School Safety,…
MoreELC Stands with Tamaqua Area School District Educators Opposed to Arming School Personnel
The Education Law Center-PA stands with the Tamaqua Area Education Association and many in the Tamaqua school community in eastern Pennsylvania in opposing their school district’s new policy allowing teachers and administrators to carry guns. ELC joined three other organizations in the filing of an amicus brief December 21, 2018, in support of the education…
MoreEducation Law Center Applauds Change in Philadelphia’s Student Discipline Policy
ELC has long advocated for alternatives to out-of-school suspensions of young children; they are not age-appropriate and do not make schools safer. Suspensions of kindergartners were banned in Philadelphia in 2016. The District’s School Reform Commission in June 2018 formally changed the School District’s student conduct and discipline policy, extending the existing ban on out-of-school…
MoreWe’re committed to protecting students’ civil rights
November, 2016 The Education Law Center-PA (ELC) is deeply concerned by ongoing racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and misogynistic rhetoric and incidents in schools. We assure our partners across the state that we will continue holding school districts to their legal obligations to maintain a school atmosphere where students can thrive and do not face fears of…
MoreSICC Passes Resolution Pressing OCDEL to Ban the Use of Exclusionary Discipline in Early Childhood Programs
ELC applauds Pennsylvania State Interagency Coordinating Council (SICC) for passing a resolution urging the Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL) to develop a comprehensive statewide policy banning the use of exclusionary discipline in all early learning programs across Pennsylvania. The Resolution was a direct result of our work, in collaboration with the ACLU…
MoreWork with ELC: Attorney and Paralegal Positions
The Education Law Center, a statewide nonprofit legal advocacy organization founded in 1975, is seeking: a full-time policy attorney in our office in Philadelphia, PA a full-time staff attorney in our office in Pittsburgh, PA a full-time paralegal in our office in Philadelphia, PA Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Click here to learn…
MoreELC 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…
MoreELC 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…
MoreProposed changes in Pittsburgh schools’ student conduct code emphasize progressive and positive discipline
July 20, 2014 – by Eleanor Chute, Pittsburgh Post Gazette – The board of Pittsburgh Public Schools will vote Wednesday on Code of Student Conduct revisions that replace zero tolerance with more discretion, incorporate ideas from a student-proposed bill of rights and provide explicit protection of students for sexual orientation and gender identity expression. Cheryl Kleiman,…
MorePhilly district orders school police to stay out of level 1 offenses
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.”
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