Diversifying Vocational Schools in Massachusetts →

Students, Civil Rights Groups File Federal Discrimination Complaint Challenging Exclusionary Admissions in Vocational Education Schools State Currently Allows Vocational High Schools to Use Criteria That Disproportionately Exclude Students of Color, English Learners, And Students with Disabilities Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) and the Center for Law and Education (CLE) filed a...

LCR’s Civil Rights Summit →

LCR’s Civil Rights Summit November 4, 2022 Lawyers for Civil Rights held a Civil Rights Summit on November 4, 2022, convening powerful attorneys and community partners for strategic and catalytic thought partnership to advance civil rights in the current legal landscape, including changes in the composition of the Supreme Court....

Launching the Lauren Sampson Fellowship →

Lawyers for Civil Rights Launches Lauren Sampson Fellowship Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) is committed to honoring the memory and legacy of our colleague Lauren Sampson. We are proud to announce the creation of a legal fellowship dedicated to deepening and expanding Lauren’s impactful work from housing to climate justice and...

Defending Diversity in Higher Education in the Supreme Court →

Civil Rights Lawyers File Supreme Court Brief Supporting Affirmative Action on Behalf Of Harvard Students and Alumni  The brief, filed in support of the respondents in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, uplifts how Harvard's race-conscious admissions policy leads to a diverse campus that benefits all students. The Lawyers’ Committee...

Opposition to Receivership in Boston →

Opposition to Receivership of Boston Public Schools Stakeholder Collaboration, Not State Takeover, Is the Path Forward for Boston Public Schools Lawyers for Civil Rights issued a letter to Jeffrey C. Riley, Commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), voicing opposition to any effort by DESE to...

Federal Court Rejects Admissions Challenge to Boston’s Selective Public Schools →

Federal Court Rejects Admissions Challenge to Boston’s Highly Selective Public Schools On October 1, 2021, Judge Young of the District of Massachusetts reaffirmed that the City of Boston may consider racial, socioeconomic, and geographic diversity in crafting admissions policies for its highly selective public schools. In a thorough and thoughtful...

Closing the Digital Divide →

FRAGMENTED ACCESS: LOW INCOME, STUDENTS OF COLOR SHOULDER EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES AS THE DIGITAL DIVIDE WIDENS Tech Inequity Has Exacerbated Pandemic-Driven Lost Learning For Low-Income, Black and Latinx Students In Massachusetts As the new school year begins, education advocates, youth-serving organizations, and civil rights lawyers sent an open letter to the...

Victory! Federal Appeals Court Rejects Attempt to Hold Up School Decisions →

VICTORY! FEDERAL APPEALS COURT REJECTS PLAINTIFF’S REQUEST TO HOLD UP SCHOOL DECISIONS  In a unanimous decision issued on April 28, 2021, the Chief Judge and two Circuit Judges of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected an eleventh-hour attempt by a group seeking to halt the...

Victory on Boston’s Selective Public Schools →

VICTORY! FEDERAL JUDGE UPHOLDS INTERIM PLAN FOR ADMISSION TO BOSTON’S HIGHLY SELECTIVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS In a decision issued on April 15, 2021, Judge William G. Young of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts soundly rejected efforts by a group seeking to overturn the Boston Public Schools’ Interim...

Victory on Highly Selective School Diversity! →

JOINT STATEMENT IN RESPONSE TO VICTORY IN TODAY'S RULING RELATIVE TO THE BOSTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS Thursday, April 15, 2021 The Boston Branch of the NAACP, The Greater Boston Latino Network, Asian Pacific Islander Civic Action Network, Asian American Resource Workshop, Anti-Defamation League of New England, and the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute,...

Welcome Letter to Mayor Janey with Racial Justice Blueprint →

AFTER DECADES OF INSUFFICIENT MUNICIPAL ACTION, LAWYERS FOR CIVIL RIGHTS GIVES MAYOR JANEY BLUEPRINT FOR RACIAL JUSTICE AND IMMIGRATION REFORMLawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) congratulates and applauds Mayor Kim Janey for her historic leadership as Boston's first Black woman Mayor. For many years, LCR has tirelessly advocated for the City...

Intervention to Protect Diversity in Boston’s Exam Schools →

COALITION OF BLACK, LATINX & ASIAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS AND FAMILIES OF COLOR INTERVENE TO DEFEND EQUITY IN BOSTON’S HIGHLY SELECTIVE PUBLIC SCHOOLS The NAACP Boston Branch, the Greater Boston Latino Network (GBLN), the Asian Pacific Islanders Civic Action Network (APIs CAN), the Asian American Resource Workshop (AARW), and three...

Literacy Resources →

Check out these resources for students and parents compiled by the Boston Schools Fund.

2020 Annual Report →

We are excited to share our 2020 annual report. The report is available here. Please click here to download the report.

Open Letter to Biden/Harris Transition Team →

Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR) sent an open letter to the Biden-Harris Transition team identifying urgent legal and policy issues that are currently affecting people of color and immigrants across the country. The letter identifies seven critical areas for immediate executive action, and urges the new Administration to prioritize the...

The Repair Work Begins Now →

STATEMENT FROM NOVEMBER 7, 2020 Lawyers for Civil Rights has played a critical role over the last four years securing major legal relief, including nation-wide injunctions, against executive actions that would harm people of color and immigrants.  We've also stopped the dismantlement of long-standing federal programs designed to protect people of color and...

Exam School Admissions and COVID-19 →

The Exam School Admissions Working Group for Boston Public Schools (BPS) recently presented its recommendations to the School Committee regarding how the district should alter the 2021-2022 admissions cycle. If adopted, the recommendations would address many of concerns surrounding equity and exam school admissions, particularly in light of COVID-19. Although the...

Digital Racial Gap in Boston Public Schools →

Digital Divide in Boston Public Schools Exacerbates Disparities Along Racial Lines and Disabilities Boston City Councilor Andrea Campbell and Lawyers for Civil Rights Urge Immediate Action to Close the Digital Gap As Boston Public Schools (BPS) gets ready for its remote reopening next week with plans to phase in a hybrid...