CLC to Assist Families in Chicago Public Schools Transition
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Chicago, August 21, 2013— The Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. and Loyola University Chicago’s Education Law and Policy Institute have partnered to conduct an independent monitoring project for two days at Chicago Public Schools when classes resume on Monday, August 26.
Approximately 50 volunteer project monitors, including law students, lawyers, and other professionals, will be assigned to schools that are expecting new students displaced by the recent CPS closings. The decision to shut down 50 schools earlier this year made national headlines for being the largest single set of public school closings in American history. The goal of the independent monitoring project is to assist the families of children who will be transitioning to a new school this fall and to ensure that children’s rights to a high quality education are preserved during that process.
“Our intention is to lend our legal expertise to assist in identifying issues early so they might be resolved,” wrote members of the monitoring project in a letter to Barbara Byrd-Bennett, chief executive officer of Chicago Public Schools, late last week.
Monitors will work in brief shifts at CPS on Monday and Tuesday next week at CPS to welcome parents and students, as well as distribute “know your rights” materials and provide legal referrals as needed. Teams of project monitors are expected to visit about half of the 53 welcoming schools on the first two days of classes.
The Chicago Lawyers' Committee and Loyola University Chicago will host two trainings:
The first training will take place on Thursday, August 22nd from 5-6:15 PM at DePaul College of Law at 25 E. Jackson, Room 341
The second will be on Friday, August 23rd from 9-10:15 AM at Loyola University Law School in the Education and Policy Institute/ChildLaw clinic located on the 11th floor of the Philip H. Corboy Law Center, 25 E. Pearson Street, Chicago.
For more information, please contact Civil Rights Fellow Eve Rips at erips@clccrul.org or by phone at 312.630.9744 x. 240.
###
Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. protects and promotes civil rights by bringing the strength and prestige of the private bar to bear on the problems of poverty and discrimination. Founded in 1969, the Committee champions equal justice and community development for underrepresented people by partnering with volunteer lawyers to provide litigation and transactional representation. For more information on the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee, visit www.clccrul.org