Education

Starting with its role in filing Morgan v. Hennigan, Boston’s school desegregation case, Lawyers for Civil Rights has worked to protect the civil and educational rights of Massachusetts’ students.  Today, our Education Project addresses a variety of educational matters in charter schools and traditional public schools.

The Education Project monitors key issues of educational equity in Boston and across the Commonwealth. These issues include student assignment, transportation, school closures, teacher diversity, and other factors considered by federal courts both today and in Boston’s school desegregation order. To address these matters, the Education Project engages in litigation, policy advocacy, and administrative advocacy, including filing complaints with the U.S. Department of Education under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

The Education Project pays particular attention to school discipline – namely, the high rates of out-of-school punishments and school-based arrests in some charter schools and traditional public schools; and the disparate use of these practices on students of color and students with disabilities. In 2012, LCR supported the passage of a state law to curb the overuse of exclusionary punishments. Through filing civil rights complaints and engaging in public advocacy, the Education Project is working to see the law implemented faithfully and fairly.

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View our comprehensive 2018 report, Unfinished Business, and our original 2015 report, Not Measuring Up: The State of School Discipline in Massachusetts.

View our groundbreaking toolkit for students, families, teachers, and community members who want to improve discipline in their schools.