ELC-PA filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Department of Education’s Bureau of Special Education on behalf of thousands of children with disabilities who transition each year from Preschool Early Intervention to kindergarten in the School District of Philadelphia (District). The District and PDE have failed to ensure that legally-required transition processes are followed and the result has lead to a significant deprivation of rights. As a result, young children begin kindergarten in the District without an appropriate IEP in place or they do not begin kindergarten on time because an appropriate program was not timely identified, despite parents complying with transition timelines and advocating for their children. Children are deprived of a FAPE once they begin school, and their families experience significant anxiety, uncertainty, and concern for their children’s wellbeing in the months prior. ELC-PA’s complaint seeks individual and systemic relief from both the District and PDE to remedy these violations. Read the Complaint here.

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Media Contact: Lindsay Wagner, [email protected], (215) 701-4264

Education Law Center-PA Statement on Senate Passage of Pennsylvania CROWN Act

Today, by an overwhelming, bipartisan, 44-3 vote, the Pennsylvania Senate approved the CROWN Act (HB 439), which protects Pennsylvanians against racial hair discrimination based on hair type, hair texture, or protective hairstyles like braids, twists, knots, and locs. Public school students are specifically protected by this law.

The Education Law Center-PA applauds the Pennsylvania Senate for passing this critical legislation that enacts statutory protections from this type of racial discrimination, and brings the Commonwealth into alignment with the growing majority of states to statutorily outlaw this type of discrimination.

“Passing the PA CROWN Act is reform that Black girls in Pennsylvania’s public schools have been demanding,” said ELC-PA Senior Attorney Paige Joki. “This is a critical improvement for equity in our schools. Students’ right to wear protective styles — such as braids, locs, and twists — and the right to learn without fear of stigmatization, reprisals, school exclusions, or other disciplinary measures will now be codified by Pennsylvania’s non-discrimination law, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act (PHRA). This important legal shift helps safeguard students’ right to expression and helps ensure that students can learn without fear and that they can come to school as their full authentic selves. No child can learn in an environment that is teaching and enforcing discrimination.”

In the past several years, ELC-PA has had to challenge discriminatory school rules for banning hairstyles that aren’t “neat” or “well-groomed,” hair that is “colored or highlighted in any flamboyant colors,” and rules that prohibit the use of combs, headscarves, wave caps, or do-rags.

Students, families, and advocates in our communities have been powerful champions for needed changes in our schools. As detailed in ELC-PA’s first-of-its kind report, We Need Supportive Spaces that Celebrate Us: Black Girls Speak Out About Public Schools, racially discriminatory school rules that punish children for their hair textures and protective hairstyles have been an ever present part of many children’s educational experiences. This discrimination is illegal. ELC-PA invites community members to learn more directly from Black girls by reading our report, four-page companion guide, and one-pager.  Join us in the fight for equitable school rules by reviewing public school rules in your community and advocating for positive change.

This legislation, an amendment to the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, now heads to the Governor’s desk.

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