Education

CCA’s educational attorneys advocate to ensure that all of Connecticut’s most vulnerable children receive equal access to an education and appropriate supports and programming whether those children have disabilities, are homeless, are committed to the Department of Children and families, are confined due to justice system involvement.

Systemic Advocacy for Educational Equity and Equality

Sheff v. O’Neill is a landmark civil rights lawsuit that seeks educational equality. The Center for Children’s Advocacy serves as lead counsel for the plaintiffs to advocate for Connecticut to uphold the constitutional rights of children in Hartford to equal educational opportunity. Click for legal documents and history. For the Hartford RSCO Comprehensive School Choice Plan, visit https://portal.ct.gov/-/media/SDE/School-Choice/RSCO/Comprehensive-School-Choice-Plan-CCP.pdf

Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) for students with disabilities

CCA’s educational team represents countless students with disabilities in Hartford, Bridgeport and across to ensure that they receive access to appropriate services and programs. This individual representation leads to systemic advocacy efforts to foster change to benefit the most vulnerable students throughout the entire state.

• Bridgeport Public Schools failed to provide FAPE to students as a result of violations of Child Find obligations under the IDEA. Child Find requires that at the beginning of each school year, districts must have an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) in effect for each child with a disability. The Center filed two complaints with the State Department of Education against Bridgeport Public Schools to assure delivery of services to special education students, accusing Bridgeport of failing to provide individual plans for its most vulnerable students, asking the state to intercede. The Complaints detailed numerous examples of neglect. Both were ruled in CCA’s favor.
• Norwalk Public Schools failed to provide FAPE to students as a result of violations of Child Find obligations under the Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA). Center for Children’s Advocacy, Norwalk Attorney Robin Keller, and SEEK (Special Education Equity for Kids of CT), filed a complaint with the State Department of Education alleging systemic and pervasive violation of federal and state law, which resulted in findings favorable to the children.
• Students with disabilities in Connecticut’s adult prisons: In 2021, during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, CCA negotiated a settlement with the Connecticut Dept. of Corrections on behalf of the youth at the state’s adult correctional facility Manson Youth Institution (MYI) to ensure that in person educational programming was being offered to the fullest extent possible and that a virtual technology based education option was available to these students. The US Dept. of Justice later found that youth at the were being denied a free and appropriate education in terms of adequate access to services and programming. CCA remains committed to following up on the DOJ’s recommendations to ensure all students with disabilities even those who are incarcerated, are receiving appropriate services.
• English Language Learner Students with disabilities: CCA is working with the Department of Justice to ensure that families of English Language learners are receiving meaningful and appropriate access to programming and services by ensuring translation and interpretation is facilitated

• Alicia B. v. Malloy et. al: CCA negotiated a settlement agreement with the state on behalf of Black expelled children who were receiving a substandard alternative education to ensure that Tate guidance was issued to require an adequate minimum number of hours of education and appropriate supports during their expulsion period.

Reducing Exclusionary Discipline in the form of Out of School Suspensions and Expulsions in Connecticut

CCA remains committed to minimizing the use of exclusionary discipline, especially against students of color. In CCA’s settlement in Alicia B. v. Malloy, filed against the state of Connecticut as well as 3 local school districts, on behalf of Black students who are disproportionately expelled, the State committed to monitoring the use of exclusionary discipline by local school district, establishing a tiering system to identify those districts and offer supports and interventions to them. Find more information about the tiering system here.

• New Visions: Hartford Public Schools systematically and pervasively denies expelled special education students their rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) by failing to provide special education and related services to confer meaningful educational benefit.

Discrimination in Admissions

• CT Technical High School System; Center for Children’s Advocacy and Greater Hartford Legal Aid filed a complaint against the Connecticut Technical High School System alleging that CTHSS applied admissions policies in ways that discriminate against students with disabilities, in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Alternative Education programs disproportionately serve children of color. Working with education officials, legislators, teachers and families, the CCA spearheaded reform, writing and securing passage of legislation that requires state evaluation and monitoring of programs.

For more information, contact Ilana Ofgang