As the backup center for education in Massachusetts, CLE provides legal and technical assistance, including co-counseling, to legal service organizations, other public interest attorneys, and pro bono counsel with whom it represents students from low-income families in education law-related matters.
These areas include exclusionary discipline; racial and sexual harassment; discrimination based on race, national origin, disability, gender, and sexual orientation; testing and assessments; school records and privacy issues; denial of appropriate specialized education and supportive services necessary for students with disabilities to access state standards set for all; failure to provide accommodations in teaching and learning for English language learners and students with disabilities; and barriers to higher education.
Organizations with which CLE regularly collaborates on its backup role include the Children’s Law Center of Massachusetts, MetroWest Legal Services, Northeast Legal Aid, Community Legal Aid, South Coastal Counties Legal Services, Greater Boston Legal Services, Mental Health Legal Advisors Committee, Massachusetts Advocates for Children, and the EdLaw Project. Many of these organizations provide significant amounts of direct representation for low-income individuals.
CLE is also a member of various professional working groups. For example, CLE participates in meetings of the Education Law Task Force (“ELTF”) convened by Massachusetts Advocates for Children as well as subcommittees of that taskforce. The ELTF meets several times a year, and its members include education advocates and attorneys from across the state.
Center for Law and Education:
(617) 451-0855