The Center for Law and Education advocates for and represents low-income students in obtaining high quality education, with a focus on improving and implementing laws that ensure educational quality and equity for ALL low-income students. To realize the right of all students to a high quality, public education, CLE has adopted four related long-term goals, whereby:
1. School personnel, students, parents, and advocates will work together to change schools so that the rights of all students to a high-quality education is a reality;
2. Students and parents will believe that they have a right to participate in decisions affecting their education and to insist on the best;
3. A climate of expectation will exist so that state and federal laws relating to the quality of education will be implemented and enforced; and
4. These education laws will be preserved, created, or improved.
To meet these four long-term goals, CLE has adopted four functional priorities:
1. Outreach and network building with families, students, educators, and advocates working to improve schools and to actualize low-income students’ rights to quality education;
2. Provision of materials [community legal education materials including information briefs, research and educational tools for parents, collaborating educators and advocates; legal and analytical materials for attorneys and advocates]; training; legal support [to attorneys and parent advocates]; and technical assistance for parents, collaborating educators, attorneys, and advocates working to implement low-income students’ rights to high quality education;
3. Efforts to improve federal and state enforcement of low-income students’ rights to quality education, including through administrative and legislative advocacy, timely, targeted legal and technical assistance to advocates and attorneys, and litigation, as necessary and appropriate;
4. Efforts to preserve, expand, and improve federal and state policies and laws setting forth low-income students’ rights to high quality education through administrative and legislative advocacy at the state and national levels, client education and networking, and litigation as needed.
