Fran Smith joins CLE
The board and staff of the Center for Law and Education are delighted to announce that, effective today, November 27th, Fran Smith is joining CLE as its managing director. Fran is a community organizer, a nonprofit manager, and a facilitative leader for racial justice. She began her work as a pro school desegregation student organizer in […]
CLE Honored by NALA as National Charity of the Year
The Center for Law and Education (CLE) is delighted and honored to have been named the 2023 National Charity of the Year by NALA–the nation’s leading professional association for paralegals–at its annual conference held in Boston. Each year, as part of the NALA Conference & Expo, NALA highlights a charity that is local to the […]
CLE Co-Director Kathleen Boundy Retires After Stellar Career
Kathleen B. Boundy, the longtime co-director of the Center for Law and Education, has announced her retirement from the national non-profit resource and support organization that strives to enforce the right of all students to a high quality public education. Based in Boston, Ms. Boundy served CLE as an attorney for 46 years, including for […]
CLE Files Comments to DESE’s Notice of Proposed Rule-making Regarding Proposed Amendments to 603 CMR 7.00, Educator Licensure and Preparation Program Approval Regulations
On June 2, 2023, CLE filed comments to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (“DESE”) Notice of Proposed Rule-making regarding proposed amendments to 603 CMR 7.00, the educator licensure and preparation program approval regulations. CLE expressed concern that DESE’s proposed changes would lead to less qualified teachers providing inadequate instruction to two of the […]
The Continuing Underrepresentation of Students with Disabilities in Boston’s Dual-Language Programs
The Boston Globe recently published an education-related piece entitled “Students with disabilities are often left out of Boston’s popular dual language programs.” We share this piece given its relevance to CLE’s on-going commitment to ensuring that no student is denied access to ESL services and/or educational opportunity on account of their disability or native language. […]
The Critical Need for a Lottery-based Admission System in Massachusetts’ Career & Vocational Technical Schools
The Boston Globe recently published an education-related piece entitled “Mass. needs more voc-tech schools — and a fairer way for students to get into them.” We share this piece given the Editorial Board’s endorsement of the remedy—namely, the adoption of a lorry-based system of admission—that CLE has sought regarding discriminatory admissions practice among Career and […]
CLE and LCR file statewide civil rights complaint against career & tech ed admissions policies in Massachusetts high schools
On February 2, 2023, the Center for Law and Education (CLE) and Lawyers for Civil Rights filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights for discrimination in the admissions policies used across Massachusetts to admit or reject students applying to career vocational technical education high schools and programs. The complaint was […]
Chris Yarrell Joins as Latest Member of CLE Team
CLE is delighted to welcome Chris Yarrell to the CLE team. Chris is primarily responsible for leading the Right to High-Quality Education for All (RHQEA) project. The central aim of this newly-funded project is to increase the capacity of free legal assistance in education law provided by participating field programs and state support organizations so […]
CLE Welcomes Zaria Walker as a Bart Gordon Fellow
CLE is delighted to welcome Zaria Walker to the team as a Bart Gordon Fellow. As a Bart Gordon Fellow, Zaria’s work will center on exclusionary discipline, where she will expand CLE’s Lay Advocacy Project. The Lay Advocacy Project trains advocates to assist students in short-term discipline hearings. Zaria is responsible for conducting outreach, training, […]
