Philadelphia Literacy The Education Law Center’s mission is to ensure access to a quality public education for all children in Pennsylvania. For 46 years, we have advocated for the most underserved students – children living in poverty, children of color, children in the foster care and juvenile justice systems, children with disabilities, children experiencing homelessness, English learners, LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming students.
We focus on three key program areas: (1) Fighting for Fair Funding, which includes advocating for adequate and equitable state funding for under-resourced schools in Pennsylvania; (2) Ensuring Equal Access, which includes advocating for access to school and needed services on behalf of children with disabilities, children in the foster care system, children experiencing homelessness, children of color, and English language learners; and (3) Dismantling the School-to-Prison Pipeline, which includes promoting evidence-based prevention practices to improve school climate while advocating against exclusionary discipline policies that push at-risk children out of school and often into the school-to-prison pipeline. ELC employs a broad range of strategies to accomplish our mission including direct legal representation, impact litigation, educating parents and students about their legal rights, supporting community-based groups, and policy advocacy on the local, state, and federal levels.
The Education Law Center’s Strategic Plan sets three-year goals in each of the organization’s priority areas. Those goals are continually revised to ensure that the organization is being responsive to the needs of its constituency and to the ever-changing conditions on the ground.