LSNYC’s Education Rights Project represents hundreds of NYC schoolchildren every year in special education and discipline proceedings, working to identify and challenge the school-to-prison pipeline in immigrant communities and communities of color. Our team of education advocates works closely with families to access educational supports for their children. We advise and represent public and charter school students who require improved special education services, are facing suspension or exclusion from school, or who seek transfer or medical accommodations. To accomplish these goals, we seek improvements in Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and in the quality of school communication with families, and represent students at suspension hearings, manifestation determination reviews (MDRs) and impartial hearings. We also counsel older students who are overage and under-credited, and who require assistance in completing their education and transitioning to adulthood.
The pandemic has hit students in vulnerable populations significantly hard. These populations include students with disabilities who were unable to meaningfully benefit from remote learning and continue to struggle now with the return to school, students from households where English is not the first language, and students from households where technological and academic skills have not been available over the last two years. As advocates, we see first-hand just how catastrophic this pandemic has been to the communities we serve, and the acute need for families to access information and necessary resources in order to ensure their children’s well-being in this time.
In addition to providing direct services to individual clients, our advocates have been at the forefront of cutting-edge impact litigation that strives to create systemic reforms in the NYC Department of Education on issues like remote learning, language access, special education, the impact of trauma on education, inappropriate discipline, and more.
Education advocates at Legal Services NYC have a proven track record for developing relationships with community-based organizations and building on Know Your Rights workshops with advocates, parents, and students throughout Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn to provide targeted and comprehensive education and advice.
To learn more about our work and some of our recent litigation, click HERE.
RESOURCES
- Know Your Rights: Educational Rights of Immigrant Students (Fact Sheet, 2021)
(English, Spanish) - Digital Literacy Guide for Parents: Navigating NYC Department of Educations' Online Sites and Apps (PDF, 2021)
(English, Spanish) - Community Roadmap to Bring Healing Centered Schools to the Bronx (Roadmap, 2020)
(English) - Know Your Rights: Sexual Assault and Harassment In NYC Schools (Factsheet, 2022)
(English, Spanish, Chinese)
Our Legal Assistance Hotline is open Monday through Friday from 9:30am to 4pm. Call 917-661-4500 to speak to an intake officer in any language.