2022 BY THE NUMBERS

As we approach the end of 2022, and look toward our 50th anniversary in 2023, we want to share with you some highlights of Education Law Center’s work from the past year. Our efforts to advance fair school funding, high quality early education, and safe and adequate school facilities, and to promote racial justice and protect students’ education rights have made us a national leader in the fight to defend and strengthen public education.

Advocacy Highlights

  • As a direct result of ELC’s litigation before the New Jersey Supreme Court in the landmark Abbott v. Burke case, the Legislature appropriated $1.55 billion
    to construct 16 new schools in urban districts, ensuring thousands of students are educated in safe and modern facilities.
  • In North Carolina, ELC filed a “friend of the court” brief providing the State Supreme Court with crucial legal background to support its ruling directing the transfer of $1.75 billion from within the state budget to fund needed education programs and services.
  • In New Jersey, ELC provided advice, referrals, legal assistance, and/or direct legal representation to over 500
    families across the state.

Read more about ELC’s advocacy in 2022.

Publications

ELC released 8 publications to assist advocates working in New Jersey and across the country. The reports cover a range of topics, from students’ rights to fair and equitable school funding:

  1. Making the Grade 2022: 27 States Receive ‘F’ on School Funding Report Card
  2. FAQ on Compensatory Education in Response to COVID-19 (3rd edition)  
  3. Underfunding of Special Education Harms all Wisconsin Students
  4. Transition Planning Under IDEA for Students with Disabilities: A Guide for Advocates
  5. How Long Must Illinois Students Wait for Fully Funded Schools? 
  6. Florida’s Hidden Voucher Expansion: Over $1 Billion From Public Schools to Fund Private Education 
  7. The Color of Opportunity: How the Underfunding of New Jersey’s Schools Disproportionately Impacts Black and Latino Students 
  8. Know Your Rights: Services for Students with Disabilities Turning 21 in 2021-22 or 2022-23 

Read additional ELC publications.

Webinars

ELC hosted 7 webinars this year, most recently co-sponsoring Money Matters: Evidence Supporting Greater Investments in PK-12 Public Education with our friends at ETS and Learning Policy Institute.

ELC also virtually hosted our annual Education Justice Lecture. This year’s event, “Beyond Either/Or: The Constitutional Right to an Equitable and Diverse Public Education,” featured Professor John Brittain, Professor Elise Boddie, and Congressman Robert C. “Bobby” Scott, and was moderated by ELC Trustee, Professor Janel George.

Three of the webinars were hosted by ELC’s Public Funds Public Schools, a campaign to fight private school vouchers and other diversions of public funding from public education:

The final webinar, Pennsylvania School Funding on Trial: View from the Trenches, was part of ELC’s Litigators’ Workshop series of ongoing convenings for lawyers representing plaintiffs in school finance and other equity lawsuits across the country.

Abbott Podcast Series

ELC collaborated with LEGAL ONE on a 10-part podcast series, “The Fight for Educational Equity – Past Present and Future,” that unpacks the decades-long effort to define and implement the right to public education guaranteed to all students under the New Jersey constitution.

Recognition

  • ELC was awarded the 2022 Dr. Elizabeth “BJ” Franks Advocacy Award from the NJ Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages/NJ Bilingual Educators Association (NJTESOL/NJBE) for the report, English Learners in New Jersey: Exposing Inequities and Expanding Opportunities in the Wake of the Pandemic, co-authored with The NJ Consortium for Immigrant Children and NJTESOL/NJBE.
  • ELC Trustee Rebecca Spar, Esq., was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the NJ State Bar Association.
  • ELC Research Director Dr. Danielle Farrie co-authored a chapter in the volume, Our Children Can’t Wait, a new book exploring the interrelated social policies that impact a students’ ability to succeed in school and offering equity-based solutions to improve student outcomes Pre-order your copy today.
  • ELC staff members were invited to present at numerous conferences, panels, and events across the country and were quoted widely in various media outlets.

Help Us Defend Education Rights and Racial Justice in 2023 and Beyond

Make a donation to ELC. As a non-profit organization, we rely on the generous contributions of individuals like you, corporations, and foundations to support our work.

ELC recently announced a partnership with FreeWill, an online estate planning tool that allows our supporters to create their free legal will while supporting our efforts to promote equal educational opportunity, racial justice and students’ rights. Please let us know if you have already included a gift to ELC in your estate planning.

For the first time, our supporters are also able to turn their intent into impact by donating stock to ELC. This can help you meet your giving goals, enjoy potential tax benefits, and contribute to ELC’s lasting legacy.

50th
Anniversary

ELC will be celebrating our 50th
anniversary in spring 2023! We’ll be hosting an in-person celebration on May 4 at the Robert Treat Hotel in Newark. Please save the date and stay tuned for additional information about the event coming soon! Learn more about our 50th
anniversary here.

Many thanks to our 2022-23 funders and pro bono partners for supporting our work in 2022.

Press Contact:

Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x 240

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Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x240