In June, the Center for Law and Education was proud to host a special event honoring the life, legacy, and enduring impact of Frederick Douglass. Through thoughtful discussion and community engagement, participants reflected on Douglass’s profound contributions to civil rights, education, and democracy, and considered the continuing relevance of his words and work today. The event was featured by NBC […]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CLE Says YES on 2 – Decouple the MCAS from a High School Diploma It is fundamentally unfair to deny students a high school diploma based on a test of material that they did not have an adequate opportunity to learn (CLE established this principle in the landmark case Debra P. v. Turlington). The MCAS […]
CLE director Paul Weckstein was recently quoted in a front-page Boston Globe article published on July 20, 2024, titled: “‘We’re taking the wrong kids’: High-needs students lose out in vocational school admissions.” The article, written by Mandy McLaren and Christopher Huffaker, details patterns of discrimination in admission to career and technical education schools throughout the Commonwealth for English learners, low-income […]
The Center for Law and Education (“CLE”) has submitted comment opposing Massachusetts’ most recent waiver extension request of the federally-imposed 1% cap on student participation in the statewide alternate academic assessment based on alternate achievement standards (“AA-AAAS”). A waiver extension for a state that has continuously failed to meet the 1% cap and ensure students are not inappropriately placed on […]
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 the 70’s in Boston. Since […]
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 in-person conference. For the 2023 […]
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 more than three decades as […]
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 Commonwealth’s most vulnerable student demographics, […]
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. We have included a […]
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 Vocational Technical Schools. We have […]
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