Publications
Distributed
Advocates for Children's Services
NEW: ACS
Annual Report, 2009
TOPICS:
Adoption & Foster Care
Children's
Rights
Education - Achievement Gap, Suspensions,
Testing
Legal
Information & Comments (articles)
Medicaid
Special
Education
Adoption & Foster Care:
Children's Rights:
Education - Achievement Gap,
Suspensions, Testing
-
"Research-based
Recommendations for Improving School Discipline in
Wake
County Public Schools" (Report)
...A 107-page report on ACS's recommendations made to the
Wake County Board of Education Economically Disadvantaged
Student Performance Task Force on July 29, 2010.
-
"The
Fundamental Right to Educational Opportunities: Two
Students' attempt to
Enforce Their Constitutional Rights."
(article, NCAJ's Trial Briefs, August 2010 edition)
...Article by ACS staff attorney Erwin Byrd and Duke Law
School's Jane
Wettach that discuses the importance of the King v Beaufort Co. Bd. of
Educ.
and Hardy v Beaufort Co. Bd. of Educ.
cases, for which arguments
were heard by the NC Supreme Court on March 22, 2010.
-
"How and Why to Represent Students in School
Suspension Appeals."
(article, NCAJ's Trial Briefs, August 2010 edition)
...Article by ACS staff attorneys Erwin Byrd and Keith
Howard.
-
"How North Carolina's high-stakes EOC and EOG tests harm our
children and
violate the State Constitution" (2-page pamphlet)
...A two-page pamphlet that challenges parents and friends
of education to build a movement that protects every child’s
right to a high-quality education and to question the
over reliance on the End of Course (EOC) and
End of Grade (EOG) tests, which have shifted the focus of
school from great teaching and learning to test preparation.
-
NC Attorney Manual on School Suspensions (2010 Edition)
...The purpose of this manual is to provide general on school
suspensions in North Carolina and is intended to educate and
train attorneys.
-
"A Guide to School Suspension in Wake County for Parents &
Advocates" (March 2010 Edition)
...This 60-page document is designed to serve as a useful
tool to help empower parents and advocates to fight for
students’ rights. This Guide includes sections on
short-term and long-term suspensions, what to do if the
rights of a student have beenviolated and special
considerations for students with a disabilityfacing
suspension.
-
"The
Racial Achievement Gap in the Wake County Public School
System" (ACS Issue Brief, March 2010)
...This Issue Brief is intended to promote the “third
option” to combat the achievement gap in the Wake County
Public School System — that is, to: a) turn the focus to the
stubborn and sizeable racial achievement gap that plagues
WCPSS; and b) propose concrete, results-oriented solutions
that can serve as a model for the entire state.
-
"Declaration of Students' Rights In North Carolina"
...One-page list of students' rights, including
students' rights when suspended, rights for students with
disabilities, and lists for action when student's rights are
violated.
-
"School-To-Prison-Pipeline, Guilford County Schools"
One-page fact sheet (including statistics)
on the Guilford County Schools in 2008-09.
-
"Zero
Tolerance for the School-To-Prison Pipeline in Wake County:
Magnitude of the Crisis" (ACS Issue Brief, December 2009)
...This Issue Brief describes the magnitude of the STPP ("School-To-Prison
Pipeline") catastrophe in the Wake County Public Schools and its associated
consequences.
-
"Better Discipline" (News and Observer OpEd,
November 9, 2009)
...This OpEd by ACS staff attorneys discusses
recent articles and a report by the SAS Institute
that have highlighted the abysmal graduation rate for
minority students in
Wake County and have identified policies that
permit lower expectations for poor and minority children.
The OpEd suggests that such are evidence of a problem
that has gone unaddressed in Wake County
for far too long: the school-to-prison pipeline.
-
"Wake's indefensible suspensions" (03/19/10 News & Observer Op Ed by ACS's Jason Langberg & Cary Brege)
-
"Shut down school-to-prison pipeline" (03/19/10 Greensboro News & Record OP Ed by ACS's Lewis Pitts)
Legal Information & Comments:
"The Bar's Ethical Responsibility to Children"
by Lewis Pitts, Senior Managing Attorney, ACS
...An article in the ABA Children Rights Litigation Committee 2003
newsletter that suggests that attorneys need to rally for children...
-
"Beyond
Rhetoric to Due process Protective Rights for
Children: A Civil Rights Approach is Imperative"
by Lewis Pitts, Senior Managing Attorney, ACS
...The
intent of this essay is to provoke deeper dialogue and action to redress the
unmet legal needs of our nation’s children as a means of providing all
children their basic right to a healthy, safe, happy life....
-
"Fighting for Children's Rights: Lessons from the Civil Rights
Movement"
by Lewis Pitts, Senior Managing Attorney, ACS
..."This article aims to bring about action to address the unmet legal and
developmental needs of children....The immediate social change required here
is for children to be recognized as 'persons' under the U.S. Constitution
with the rights to vigorous legal representation when they have significant
interests at stake...." his article was first published in the "University
of Florida Journal of Law and Public Policy", Aug. 2005, Vol. 16, No. 2.
[Note: This is a pdf document and requires
Adobe Acrobat Reader]
-
"Kids &
Corporations: A Call for Action"
"...Real people must defy this corporate rule and reclaim the power and
values embedded in the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution.
We, the People, are entitled to self-government and democracy so we can
provide for the needs of all children...."
Medicaid:
Special Education:
ADVOCATES FOR CHILDREN'S SERVICES
Fighting for the Rights of Children:
Health Care * Education * Safe & Permanent Families
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to speak to an attorney regarding your particular situation. See our
complete disclaimer.
Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.
Disclaimer
The materials contained on this website
are for information and educational purposes only and do not
constitute legal advice.
Also please note that Legal Aid of North Carolina does not
provide legal assistance by E-mail. Contact your Legal Aid of
North Carolina office or a private attorney if you need to speak
to an attorney regarding your particular situation.
See our
complete disclaimer.
Mission Statement
Legal Aid of North Carolina is a statewide, nonprofit law firm that
provides free legal services in civil matters to low-income people in
order to ensure equal access to justice and to remove legal barriers
to economic opportunity.