EDUCATION EQUITY
Access to free, quality public education is a civil right.
We advocate for a public school system that fulfills the needs of every student — no matter where they live.
The Education Equity practice area of Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights:
Works with community partners to advocate for law and policy that ensures access to high-quality educational opportunities and eliminates practices that disparately impact historically-marginalized students.
Provides direct legal services to youth at risk of losing access to education due to racial discrimination, harsh discipline, or involvement in the criminal justice system.
We promote system-wide transformational change that recognizes the experience of historically-marginalized children and works to improve their outcome.
“By staying in this fight together . . .
CHANGE WILL COME.”
Director of Education Equity
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights
- Beatriz Diaz-Pollack
Learn how the Education Equity practice partners with grassroots organizations to demand that all Illinois children have access to a well-resourced public education.
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OUR CURRENT FOCUS & OBJECTIVES
ACTION
Protect student rights and advance community perspective
Disrupt hostile and carceral laws and policies; advocate for policy and practices that are student-centered, trauma-informed, culturally-responsive, and historically accurate.
Ensure equitable funding and resourcing
Advocate for full funding for public education and address policies that leave districts under-resourced and advance all practices that improve equity.
Shift power to students, parents, and community
Advocate for governance laws, policies, and practices at the level of a school district or an individual school that reflect community needs.
STRATEGY
Transforming School Discipline Collaborative
TSDC is a collaborative of organizations working to ensure that Illinois' schools are safe and supportive for all students.
EDUCATION EQUITY - Case Highlights
Launched PEER Illinois, a new statewide coalition promoting equity in public education
2022
Provided legal, planning and technical support as the co-lead and a core member of the Partnership for Equity and Education Illinois (PEER IL), a statewide coalition of school community members, organizers, researchers, lawyers and policy makers which has embarked upon a campaign calling for full and equitable funding of Illinois’ public schools by dramatically increasing the state’s investment of funds in the Evidence Based Funding formula. The tools launched by the coalition include a new website and interactive school funding database to support the long-term, statewide campaign.
Filed suit addressing racial harrassment of a public school student
2019
Filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of an African-American elementary school student challenging a school district’s failure to adequately address and prevent years of racial harassment by fellow students. The lawsuit, filed against the Wilmington School District in Will County, Illinois, alleged violations of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, Equal Protection, and the Illinois Civil Rights Act. The lawsuit resulted in favorable settlement to the plaintiff student.
Filed suit to prevent closure of National Teachers Academy, a public school serving the South Loop community
2018
Filed litigation against Chicago Public Schools (CPS) on behalf of parents and community groups alleging that CPS violated the Illinois Civil Rights Act and the Illinois School Code in its plan to close National Teachers Academy, a top-performing elementary school serving predominantly low-income and Black students in the South Loop neighborhood. In December 2018, the Court granted our request for a preliminary injunction, and CPS later announced it would not appeal and abandoned its plans to close the school. The case represented the first successful race-based challenge to a school closing in Illinois history.
