You can help to preserve parental participation in special education decisions!  The state is proposing to limit the opportunity for parents to participate when a school decides to terminate special education services.  JustChildren and other advocates around the state oppose this change, and want to encourage parents to come out to the public hearings and share their concern.  Read more about the hearings and read some tips on how to testify effectively. 

 JustChildren attorneys Angela Ciolfi and Sarah Geddes are featured in the Jan-Feb 2008 edition of the Virginia Poverty Law Review with an article about the recent U.S. Supreme Court case addressing school segregation.  Read it here.

JustChildren's Education Project uses all available strategies to expand opportunities for Virginia’s most vulnerable children.  On any given day, we might represent an individual child in a hearing to obtain appropriate educational services; support a group of parents in advocating improvements to their schools; provide testimony before the state Board of Education, or pound the halls of the General Assembly.  We do everything we can to help improve the educational opportunities for at-risk children across the Commonwealth. (photo at rights shows Governor Tim Kaine and constituents at JustChildren's March 2008 press conference supporting increased preschool funding.)

 

Access JustChildren publications and learn about other organizations working to improve the lives of our most vulnerable children.

Direct Representation

JustChildren advocates represent children with a wide variety of educational needs.

In 2007 we represented the foster mother of a 14-year-old African American child experiencing profound autism and mental retardation, complicated by exposure to high lead intoxication levels in early childhood.  The child bounced around from placement to placement until about four years ago when she came to the home of our client as a permanent foster child. The child was in public schools until communication difficulties led to behavioral difficulties.  The schools and the Dept. of Social Services recommended a residential placement, and last January, the child was sent to a residential school over three hours from home. 

JustChildren initiated an application to a specialized school near the foster parent’s home, supplemented the application with a videotape of her current school to illustrate her lack of progress, and arranged for her to visit the school for an interview.  We also negotiated with DSS and the schools to support placement in and transportation to a less restrictive environment, and secured funding from DSS to permit the foster mom to attend a 3-day workshop on working with children with autism. The placement was approved and our client called us in tears to announce “My baby is coming home!”

JustChildren advocates also train other legal services providers to help children with educational issues.  With the assistance of the Legal Services Corporation of Virginia, JustChildren attorneys travel throughout the state to share information and strategies with both attorneys and other service providers who participate in the process of ensuring access to educational services. 

Parent and Community Involvement

Studies support that notion that the more parents are involved in the education of their children, the more likely the child will  succeed.  With this in mind, JustChildren develops accessible self-help materials for parents, such as our Helping You Help Your Child handbook providing parents with training on effective education advocacy, and supporting local organizing efforts in the communities we serve.    

 In Petersburg, for example, we helped local community members form Petersburg Advocates for Children (PAC). This group successfully raised awareness among parents of the free tutoring services that the Petersburg City Schools are required to provide under the federal No Child Left Behind law.  As a result, we expect that hundreds of additional children will receive the benefits of this important intervention.  In Spring 2007, PAC and JustChildren organized a community meeting attended by over 150 local residents (see photo at left), who questioned Dr. Billy Cannaday, Virginia's Superintendent for Instruction.

Policy and Legislative Work

Virginia Pre-School Initiative:  In addition to thinking about the educational needs of specific groups of students (i.e., those with disabilities, those in the juvenile justice system, or those in the foster care system) we have devoted substantial time and resources to improving Virginia’s entire public education system. For example, last session we focused on strengthening Viginia’s Pre-School Initiative (VPI) which helps provide pre-school education to children living in poverty across Virginia.  The program, which was established in the 1990s, had not seen a per-pupil funding increase in 10 years.  Thanks to our leadership and advocacy, and that of our partners, the General Assembly added $6.6 million to the program.

A Focus on Graduation:  At the other end of the educational spectrum, we have focused on the problem of too many children failing to successfully graduate from high school.  In our home communities – Charlottesville, Richmond and Petersburg – huge percentages of students appear to get lost somewhere between freshmen year and graduation day.  In Richmond, for example, almost half of the freshmen class fails to make it to graduation day on time, even though all the high schools are fully accredited. 

Through media advocacy, coalition building, and multiple appearances and public comment before the State Board of Education JustChildren succeeded in bringing this issue to the forefront.  Recently, the Board of Education established a sub-committee to study and make recommendations regarding the issues of graduation and drop-outs, and also include "raising graduation rates" among the new priority areas of the Standards of Accreditation.

Children with Disabilities  Another focus of our statewide policy work is to improve the system for provision of services to children who have special educational needs as a result of a variety of diabling condition.   In 2007, JustChildren played a key role in updating the state's procedural safeguards manual to make it easier to understand, so that more parents can be involved in seeking and getting appropriate services for their children.