Successful Strategy to Combat Illegal School Discharges in New York City
Hyman, Elisa, "School Push-Outs: An Urban Case Study," Clearinghouse Review Journal of Poverty Law and Policy, 684 (2005).
This article describes successful efforts undertaken by Advocates for Children and its allies to address the push-out problem in New York City through a combination of litigation, direct action, public education, community outreach, public policy, and media campaigns. Through the use of surveys, workshops, and hotlines Advocates for Children and other community based organizations documented cases of high school students that had been illegally discharged each year without receiving diplomas. These practices included transferring younger students and students with disabilities to GED programs and outright discharge of students who were told that they were too old to stay in high school, did not have enough credits, or were not on track to receive a high school diploma. Lawsuits were filed on behalf of students from three high schools that resulted in citywide policy changes on transfers and discharges including requiring a planning interview before discharge or transfer, requiring consent of the student and due process procedures. The policy also included review of each discharge or transfer to a non-diplomagranting program. Settlement agreements in the lawsuits required re-enrollment of students, support services, ad monitoring. See the cases and documents at http://www.advocatesforchildren.org/pushouts.php.
Other subsequent cases filed by Advocates for Children and co-counsel include EB v. Department of Education at http://www.advocatesforchildren.org/eb.php (on behalf of children with disabilities who have been excluded from school without proper notice and due process), and DS v. NYCDOE at http://www.advocatesforchildren.org/boysandgirls.php (on behalf of students who have been illegally excluded from Boys and Girls High School).
Relevant Link: http://www.advocatesforchildren.org/pubs/2005/schpushouts.pdf