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Judge Approves Agreement Struck By ACLU And Civil Rights Lawyers To Desegregate Hartford Public Schools (06/11/2008)

ACLU Lawsuit Challenges Racial Discrimination In Alabama School District (05/22/2008)
MONROEVILLE, AL – The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Alabama filed a complaint in a class-action lawsuit last night charging Monroe County school officials with subjecting African American students at Monroeville Junior High School to the widespread use of racial epithets and slurs, racially-motivated discipline, and racially segregated classrooms, practices that deny African American students their constitutional right to equal educational opportunities.

ACLU And Civil Rights Lawyers Strike Agreement To Desegregate Hartford Public Schools (04/04/2008)
HARTFORD - The American Civil Liberties Union, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the Center for Children’s Advocacy and cooperating attorneys struck an agreement today with the state of Connecticut to implement compliance with a longstanding order from the state Supreme Court to desegregate Hartford public schools. The agreement, the latest stage in the case of Sheff v. O’Neill, for the first time requires the state to create a detailed roadmap to follow in its effort to end the racial segregation faced by Hartford’s minority schoolchildren.

Dismal High School Graduation Rates Violate Florida Constitution, Says ACLU Lawsuit (03/18/2008)
WEST PALM BEACH, FL -- Charging that shamefully low high school graduation rates demonstrate a violation of students’ constitutional right to a high quality education, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit today against the Palm Beach County School District. It is estimated that as many as one in three Palm Beach County students does not graduate on time with a regular diploma, a figure that is well below both the state and national averages. This case is the first legal challenge in the country that focuses on the issue of low graduation rates and that requires a school district to graduate more of its students.

ACLU Sues Over Failed Privately-Run Alternative School In Atlanta (03/11/2008)
ATLANTA – In a case with national implications, the American Civil Liberties Union and ACLU of Georgia filed a class action lawsuit today against the Atlanta Independent School System (AISS) and Community Education Partners (CEP) for violating students’ constitutional right to an adequate public education. CEP is a for-profit corporation paid nearly $7 million a year by the city to run its alternative school, which is among the most dangerous and lowest performing schools in Georgia.

ACLU of Oklahoma Challenges Anti-Civil Rights Ballot Measure (03/07/2008)
OKLAHOMA CITY - Oklahoma voters filed a protest today before the state Supreme Court challenging irregularities and questionable practices in the collection of signatures by the so-called Oklahoma Civil Rights Initiative. The initiative is one of a series of anti-affirmative action ballot measures that California businessman Ward Connerly and his organization known as the American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) have spearheaded across the country.

Settlement Approved in Case Alleging School Discrimination (12/11/2007)
WINNER, SD – A federal judge today entered a consent decree to enforce an agreement between the Winner/Ideal Native American community and the Winner School District that settles a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of Native American students by the American Civil Liberties Union. The case, Antoine et al v. Winner School District, charged that the school district disproportionately targeted Native American students for disciplinary action, maintained an educational environment hostile toward Native American families, and forced students to write out confessions for school misconduct to be used in juvenile and criminal prosecutions. The school district denied the allegations in the complaint.

ACLU and Civil Rights Lawyers Renew Effort to Desegregate Hartford Schools (11/06/2007)
HARTFORD – Before a Connecticut Superior Court today, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF), the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Connecticut and cooperating attorneys will argue that the state of Connecticut must honor its legal obligations to desegregate Hartford’s public schools.

Jena 6 Hearing a Step in the Right Direction to End School-to-Prison Pipeline (10/16/2007)
Washington, DC – The House Judiciary Committee held a hearing today to examine violence in public schools in light of the Jena Six case, a move the American Civil Liberties Union hopes will inspire Congress to fix the racial disparities in the juvenile and criminal justice system exemplified by the unfair treatment of the six Louisiana students. Specifically, the ACLU hopes Congress will examine the systemic funneling of students from schools into the juvenile and criminal justice systems, known as the school to prison pipeline.

Citing History of Discrimination, ACLU of Virginia Asks Richmond City Council to Reject Appointed School Board (10/01/2007)
RICHMOND, VA— The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia today is asking Richmond City Council to reject attempts by a group of local civic and business leaders to eliminate the city’s elected school board in favor of an appointed one.

Treatment of Jena Six Raises Questions of Racial Injustice (09/14/2007)
JENA, LA – The American Civil Liberties Union today expressed concern about the possibility of racially-motivated unequal treatment in the Jena Six case, in which six black high school students were charged with attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder for fighting with a white student last year in Jena, Louisiana. Although some of the charges were later reduced to aggravated battery and conspiracy to commit aggravated battery, one student still faces an attempted murder charge and up to 50 years in prison without suspension, probation or parole. Mychal Bell, the only member of the Jena Six to be tried so far, was convicted of aggravated battery in July and could face a 15 year prison sentence.

ACLU Expresses Mixed Feelings About Supreme Court Decision in School Desegregation Cases (06/28/2007)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union expressed both relief and concern after the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling today in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education.

Native American Families and Winner School District Announce Settlement in Case Alleging Discrimination (06/18/2007)
WINNER, SD - The Winner/Ideal Native American community and the Winner School District announced today that an agreement has been reached to settle a class action lawsuit brought on behalf of Native American students attending Winner schools.

Arrest of 13-Year-Old for Writing on Desk Should Be Wake-up Call for City, NYCLU Says (04/06/2007)
NEW YORK - The New York Civil Liberties Union today condemned the treatment of a 13-year-old girl who was arrested after she wrote the word "okay" on her school desk. The NYCLU said the incident sheds light on the fatal flaws in New York City's use of law enforcement to impose discipline in classrooms.

NYCLU and ACLU Report Calls for End to Over-Policing in New York City Schools (03/18/2007)
NEW YORK - The massive and aggressive police presence in public schools has transformed New York City classrooms into hostile and dysfunctional environments that are damaging to students and disempower educators, the New York Civil Liberties Union and the American Civil Liberties Union said in a report released today.

NYCLU Urges Spitzer to Implement School-Based Reform, End School Segregation (01/04/2007)
NEW YORK - After Governor Eliot Spitzer pledged yesterday to spend billions more dollars on education for New York State children, the New York Civil Liberties Union today urged the new governor to focus not only on funding but also on implementing school-based reform. Statewide school-based reform will tailor remedial measures to failing schools' specific deficiencies, and decrease persistent racial inequality in the education system, said the NYCLU.

From Desegregation to Diversity: Supreme Court to Address Equality in K-12 Education (09/20/2006)
WASHINGTON – This year in two cases from Kentucky and Washington State, the Supreme Court will review constitutional limits on the consideration of race in the context of student assignment to elementary and secondary schools. In so doing, it will necessarily harken back to the assumption articulated in a 1970s-era segregation case that school districts may take race into consideration in creating student assignment plans. The decision will also address the way in which its holdings in the more recent Michigan higher education cases are to be applied to K-12 schools.

Orange County Judge Rejects Challenge to School Integration Plan (08/30/2006)
ORANGE, CA -- An Orange County judge today resisted attempts to hobble integration efforts in California public schools and upheld the Capistrano Unified School District's ability to consider race to avoid segregation at its schools.

ACLU Fights to End Discriminatory Prosecution of Native American Students (03/28/2006)
SIOUX FALLS, SD – The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a class action lawsuit in federal court against the Winner School District in South Dakota, charging that the District maintains an environment hostile to Native Americans by, among other things, disciplining Native American students more harshly than Caucasians and by forcing them to sign “confessions” for minor rule breaking, which often leads to juvenile court convictions.