During the COVID-19 pandemic, many students across Pennsylvania were exposed to “virtual learning” or “virtual school programs” for the first time. These are programs operated by a school district or charter school that offer an education program through computer-based or online programs and may also be referred to as “cyber” learning.
This fact sheet discusses district virtual school programs and cyber charter schools. To learn more, click here.
If your child with a disability has been denied needed educational services required by law, your student is entitled to make-up educational services, or compensatory education.
Compensatory education is meant to put a student in the same position they would be in if the school had provided appropriate special education and supports in the first place. Because of that, compensatory education is highly individualized and broadly flexible to the needs of your student.
To learn more about how to receive compensatory education for your child, click here.
Please note – this document is available in Spanish.
All students have the right to be free from bullying and harassment in school ‒ whether it is verbal, written, graphic, physical, or online. All forms of bullying and harassment are not permitted and require your school to investigate and intervene to ensure that the bullying and harassment does not continue. The problem must be addressed promptly, as students who are bullied are at increased risk of experiencing health problems and academic struggles and are more likely to drop out of school.
To learn more, click here.
Please note – this document is available in Spanish and Chinese.
This fact sheet applies to young children in all preschool settings in Pennsylvania, including child care and daycare centers, Early Intervention, Head Start, private academic schools (PDE-licensed preschools), and school district pre-kindergarten. If one of these school settings seeks to suspend or expel your child, here are some things you should know about your rights.
You can learn more about those rights here.
Please note – this document is available in Spanish.
This toolkit was developed to assist families and advocates to respond to efforts to suspend or expel students. It applies to all public schools (including charter schools) in Pennsylvania. If a school district or charter school seeks to suspend or expel your child or send them to an alternative education for disruptive youth (AEDY) setting, you may find this toolkit helpful.
Learn more here.
Attempts to ban books are on the rise nationally, and Pennsylvania is no exception. This worrisome trend is already negatively impacting Pennsylvania students, who have less access to the diverse viewpoints and ideas expressed in the books being banned.
While school districts have the power to select and, in some cases, remove books from public schools, there are important limitations on a school board’s ability to ban books. There are also actions that students, parents, and community members can take to fight back against these harmful policies.
Learn more about these actions here.
School boards play a pivotal role in shaping the education that public school students receive.
School boards are accountable to the residents of the district they serve and who elected them. This means they have a responsibility to keep the community informed and must make their decisions using input from the public and members of the school community.
Learn more about school boards and how to make your voice heard at school board meetings here.
In January 2022, the Pennsylvania General Assembly enacted Act 1 of 2022 (Act 1) (24 P.S. § 13-1331.1), which seeks to remove educational and graduation barriers for students who experience “education instability” due to homelessness, foster care, involvement in the juvenile justice, or court-ordered placements. Act 1 of 2022 seeks to address these barriers and promote timely high school graduation and equal access to school engagement for these students.
You can learn more here.
Children involved in the juvenile justice systems have the right to a free public education, like all public school students. These rights are not lost because of system involvement, and additional protections are in place to ensure access to a quality public education. Children and youth in the juvenile justice system may need strong advocates because they are among the most educationally underserved of all student populations. As a result of multiple school changes and placement in on-grounds schools, students who are system-involved often fall through the cracks.
This fact sheet highlights important protections and addresses ways to support students to be successful.
To learn more, click here.
Discrimination against LGBTQ people is illegal. Courts have increasingly recognized the rights of students who identify as gay or transgender, as well as students who are nonbinary or gender-nonconforming (sometimes referred to as “gender-expansive”). Students who are LGBTQ or gender-expansive have the same rights as other students, and schools are required to intervene and correct policies or practices that discriminate against students based on sexual orientation or gender identity or expression.
You can learn more here.
It is estimated that children in foster care change living placements on average two to three times while in care, and a third of older youth experience five or more school changes. Children lose four to six months of academic progress with each school change. Too often, credits earned at one school do not transfer or are not recognized towards graduation. These students are more likely to miss
school, be placed in inappropriate classes, and fail to receive the special education and remedial services they need, due in part to the absence of a consistent and involved educational decisionmaker.
To address these issues, the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) ensures school stability and immediate enrollment for all children in foster care. This fact sheet explains the important protections under this law and how these requirements are implemented in Pennsylvania.
Learn more here.
Children involved in the foster care system have the right to a free public education, like all public school students. These rights are not lost because of system involvement, and additional protections are in place to ensure access to a quality public education. Children and youth in the foster care system may need strong advocates because they are among the most educationally underserved of all student populations. As a result of multiple school changes and placement in on-grounds schools, students who are system-involved often fall through the cracks.
This fact sheet highlights important protections and addresses ways to support students to be successful.
To learn more, click here.
Young children who experience delays in growth and development, even as young as birth, are entitled to receive free educational services to help them develop and gain skills for later school success. Parents should be included in the planning and delivery of those services. This fact sheet provides information on how parents can make sure their young children get the early intervention services they need.
You can access it here.
Parents and schools may disagree about any matter related to a child’s education, including whether or not a child is eligible for special education services, the Individualized Education Program (IEP) offered by the school, the type and length of services, and the child’s school and classroom placement. This fact sheet provides information on how parents can address and resolve disagreements. You can access the full guide here.
To learn more about requesting mediation to resolve special education disagreements and to access the necessary forms, click here.
Please note – this document is available in Spanish and Chinese.
Special note: In many cases, parents must notify a school that they disagree with a decision AND must take action to challenge a proposed IEP or placement within 10 days of written notice of the decision.
Before a child can begin receiving special education services, the child must be evaluated to determine if the child is eligible for these services. The evaluation helps determine if the child has a disability and needs special education services. The evaluation is also important to identify changes to instruction, services, and supports the child needs to succeed.
You can learn more about how to request an evaluation here.
Please note – this document is available in Spanish, Chinese, Arabic and Nepali.
Cyberbullying is bullying that takes place over digital devices including computers, cell phones, and tablets. The same rules that require a school to investigate and intervene to prevent in-person bullying also apply to cyberbullying.
Learn more about cyberbullying here.
For more information on bullying, see ELC’s toolkit, What to Do When Your Child Is Bullied or Harassed: A Parent’s Guide to Advocacy in Pennsylvania Public Schools, available here.
This fact sheet is intended for Magisterial District Justices (MDJs) and other judges to use when adjudicating truancy matters under Pennsylvania’s compulsory school attendance law. It highlights key changes to the law in light of Act 138 of 2016, which substantially changed the truancy provisions of Pennsylvania’s Public School Code.
Read the guide here.
The First Amendment protects the rights of students to express themselves in public schools. Students are entitled to speak out, write articles, form groups, hand out flyers, and petition school officials. There are some important limits, however. Schools can prohibit certain forms of expression, including speech that substantially disrupts the school environment, violates the rights of others, or is lewd or vulgar.
Learn more here about what rights to free speech and expression students have in school.
This fact sheet describes the process for determining if your child, as an English learner (EL), is appropriately and legally placed in an Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth (AEDY) program and, if not, how to return your child to an appropriate placement in your local school district.
To learn more, click here.
Please note – this document is available in Spanish.
To learn more about general rights applicable to all students who may be placed in AEDY, see our Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth fact sheet.
You may also be interested in our guide on Alternative Education for Students with Disabilities.
This fact sheet describes the process for determining if your child with disabilities is appropriately and legally placed in an Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth (AEDY) program and, if not, how to return your child to an appropriate placement in your local school district in the least restrictive environment. The fact sheet outlines special rights applicable to your child as a child with a disability ― that is, a child who has or is eligible for an IEP or Section 504 Plan.
To learn more, click here.
To learn more about general rights applicable to all students who may be placed in AEDY, see our Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth fact sheet. You may also be interested in our guide on Alternative Education for Multilingual Learners.