ELC WELCOMES PARTNERSHIP FOR EQUITY & EDUCATION RIGHTS
Education Law Center (ELC) today announced a new collaboration with the Partnership for Equity & Education Rights (PEER). Established in 2017, PEER is an innovative network of state-focused advocates, community organizers and public interest lawyers working to ensure all children have access to an excellent public education.
PEER has partners in seven states, all of whom have made fair school funding their top advocacy priority in the network. PEER brings a new vision and energy to growing state-by-state effort to improve school funding, resource equity and student outcomes by connecting lawyers, advocates and organizers. Sharing resources, expertise and experience, they collaborate and support campaigns seeking greater state investment in the nation’s public schools.
PEER also provides a much-needed platform to enhance the capacities of network partners in their efforts to advance fair school funding. PEER’s capacity building includes identifying model policies, litigation opportunities and strategies, research, and organizing tactics for successful campaigns.
“We are thrilled to welcome PEER to the ELC family. PEER is a natural fit with our state-based work on fair school funding and other equity challenges,” said David Sciarra, ELC Executive Director. “We know collaboration is essential in addressing the tough challenge of ensuring every child in our nation has the educational opportunity they deserve and are entitled to.”
PEER members include: 482 Forward (MI), Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (IL), Georgia Appleseed and Gwinnett SToPP (GA), Legal Aid Justice Center (VA), New Mexico Center on Law & Poverty (NM), North Carolina Justice Center (NC) and Unite Oregon (OR).
“I’ve long admired ELC’s commitment to equity and education rights for all students,” said Jennifer Doeren, PEER Managing Director. “On behalf of all PEER members, we are honored that ELC has welcomed us with open arms. I’m more excited than ever about our potential to improve educational opportunities for American students.”
PEER is supported by funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF). Thanks to WKKF support, PEER works to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for vulnerable children across the nation.
“The connection with ELC will strengthen all of our organizations and the PEER network,” said Wytrice Harris, Co-director of 482Forward. “We look forward to a robust collaboration to improve opportunity for public school children across Michigan and across the country.”
Founded in 1973, Education Law Center (ELC) has become one of the most effective advocates for equal educational opportunity and education justice in the United States. Widely recognized for groundbreaking court rulings on behalf of at-risk students, ELC also promotes educational equity through coalition building, litigation support, policy development, communications, and action-focused research.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org
Contact:
Jennifer Doeren
Policy and Outreach Director
jdoeren@edlawcenter.org
917-399-9255
Press Contact:
Sharon Krengel
Director of Policy, Strategic Partnerships and Communications
skrengel@edlawcenter.org
973-624-1815, x240