Push Outs?
Do You Have a "Horror Story" About a Student Getting Kicked Out of School?
Are you a student, a parent of a student, or do you know a student who has been excluded from school for reasons that seem harsh, unfair, or irrational?
The Education Law Task Force ("ELTF"), a group of legal services and education advocates for low-income students from around the state, is interested in learning more about how and why kids get disciplined in Massachusetts schools under so-called "zero tolerance" policies. We believe the popular idea that students are thrown out of school only when they behave violently or do dangerous things like bring a gun to school is generally wrong. Instead, students are all too often excluded because of behavior that does not threaten school safety. Discipline is also often connected to the school's failure to give students what they need, particularly those who are entitled to special education.
We want to examine this belief, and are looking for stories that could be used to advocate in a number of ways. We hope that advocates and others connected to students, or students and their parents, who have suffered overly harsh and unfair discipline will share what they know (no personal identifying information will be shared outside the ELTF without permission). Please call or email, or ask the person with the story to contact:
Dara Lenoff at South Coastal Counties Legal Services in Brockton dlenoff@sccls.org 508-482-2773 x-29 or 800-244-8393
Nora Saint Martin at SCCLS in New Bedford nsaintmartin@sccls.org 508-979-7150 x-18 or 800-929.9721 a Spanish speaker
Sandra Carter at the Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee scarter@mhlac.org 617-338-2345 x-24, 800-342-9092
Kristin Wesolaski at Massachusetts Advocates for Children kwesolaski@massadvocates.org 617-357-8431 x-243) a Spanish speaker
Alan Rom at the Legal Assistance Corp. of Central Mass. arom@laccm.org 508-425-2805 a Spanish speaker.
Please share this request with other interested persons, groups, and local organizations.
Thank you.
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