Testimony of Dan Urevick-Ackelsberg, Senior Attorney, Public Interest Law Center August 10, 2023 – Chairman Schweyer, Chairman Topper, and Members of the Committee: I am an attorney at the Public Interest Law Center. Along with my colleagues at the Public Interest Law Center, the Education Law Center, and O’Melveny and Myers, I had the privilege […]
In a motion to intervene filed Thursday, two organizations and three district parents ask the District Court to dismiss a lawsuit filed by the School District challenging a 2022 law requiring city safety inspections for school building.
We successfully appealed the denial of a public records request for documents showing how the District developed and implemented its new school-selection system for magnet schools.
Week four of the Pennsylvania school funding trial featured testimony on the role of early childhood education and testimony about the School District of Lancaster, one of six school districts suing state legislative leaders and other state officials for shortchanging students in low-wealth communities.
The Chester Upland School District’s court-appointed receiver finally released the names of the three bidders who responded to a Request for Proposals (RFP) to take over district schools, along with the names of committee members who will assist the receiver in reviewing these proposals. The information came after parent representatives announced they were filing an emergency petition in court seeking this and additional information.
February 23, 2021 Dear Board of Education Members, We are advocates and parents of current and former public school students with disabilities in the School District of Philadelphia (the “District”). We write to provide you with the transcript of a hearing that was held before Philadelphia City Council in the fall of 2020 about the […]
Re: Request to Postpone WIDA ACCESS testing of English learners during the Pandemic December 29, 2020 Dear Secretary Ortega, Deputy Secretary Stem, and Director Measel, We write today to urge you to postpone the in-person administration of the WIDA ACCESS test for emerging bilingual students (aka English learners) during the COVID-19 pandemic until it is […]
Today, parents and a community organization in Chester Upland School District filed an emergency motion to suspend a process to outsource the entire district’s operations and schools to charter operators. This request for proposals process has taken place in secret, with no public notice and no opportunities for parents and other community members to weigh in,
What is compensatory education? Students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are entitled to Free Appropriate Public Education (FAPE). If a school district fails to provide a student with FAPE, and the parent files a due process complaint, one remedy is compensatory education. Compensatory education is money that families can use to pay for educational services […]
The Public Interest Law Center would like to learn more about how the School District of Philadelphia is doing conducting evaluations/reevaluations and providing related services during school building closures and virtual instruction.
