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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Florida State Conference of NAACP, et al., v. Florida Department of Health (court order petition)
After the Florida Department of Health filed an emergency rule that barred school districts in the state from requiring students to wear masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Law Offices of Joshua Spector, P.A. filed a legal complaint. The petition was filed in Florida’s Fourth District Court of Appeal on…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Ignoring COVID-19: Florida governor’s ban of mask mandates in public schools endangers children
With millions of children across Florida preparing to return to school this month, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has issued an irresponsible executive order that bars school districts from implementing face mask requirements for their students. This order is deeply disturbing. It utterly disregards the health and safety and the very lives of children, particularly children…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Ending Virtual-School Oppression: Black students are disproportionately punished for harmless behavior at home during Zoom classes
Isaiah Elliott was suspended from seventh grade for holding a toy gun in an online art class. Ka’Mauri Harrison, 9, faced nearly two weeks of suspension for picking up a BB gun in his own bedroom – after his brother had tripped over it. A 15-year-old girl was incarcerated for not doing her homework, which…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Helping your Child with a Disability get a Good Education
The Southern Poverty Law Center has created a guide, “Helping Your Child With a Disability Get a Good Education,” to help parents of children with disabilities. Children with disabilities have a unique set of requirements in order to thrive in any setting, including the classroom. They are legally obligated to be served in a way…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
NAACP, et al. v. DeVos, et al.
In July 2020, federal officials issued an illegal rule that would siphon over $1 billion in emergency aid from public schools to private schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Southern Poverty Law Center and its allies filed a lawsuit challenging the rule issued by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education.…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
McEwen, et al. v. Lee, et al.
Tennessee’s voucher program threatened to siphon hundreds of millions of tax dollars from Nashville and Memphis public schools to private schools, raising the specter of more budget cuts for already underfunded public schools. The SPLC and its allies filed a lawsuit in state court challenging the program as an unconstitutional diversion of public education funding.…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Alabama Schools Due Process Lawsuits
Alabama is the only state in the Southeast that lacks statutory due process protections for students facing long-term suspension or expulsion. Without a state law, each of the 138 school districts in Alabama is left to develop its own protections and procedures. This has resulted in haphazard, inconsistent and disproportionate disciplinary outcomes for students. The…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Alabama Charter Schools: Principles for Ensuring Equity and Access
Download the report here. Introduction Charter schools have been a part of America’s public education landscape for decades, but have only existed in Alabama since 2015. The original concept of charter schools—allowing experienced teachers to experiment with creative teaching styles and instructional strategies in small settings1—has, for the most part, been left behind. Instead, the…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
Safe For Whom? How the MSD Commission is putting Florida’s Children in Danger
The commission appointed by politicians to study school safety in Florida after the mass shooting in Parkland in 2018 has recommended—without evidence to support them—measures that place children at greater risk of being shot or wrongfully arrested; put children’s privacy and liberty in jeopardy and strip them of civil rights; create school environments that are…
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- Eliminating Poverty and Economic Inequality
T.D., et al. v. Duval County Public Schools, et al.
In 2018, the Duval County School Board in Florida began hiring armed civilians, known as “school safety assistants,” to patrol the district’s elementary schools. The program threatened the safety of thousands of students by opening the door for inadequately trained assistants – who are not law enforcement officers – to carry guns. The SPLC and…
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