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October 26, 2010

Contacts:
Marion Steinfels, Southern Poverty Law Center
334.956.8417
Stacie Royster, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
202.662.8317


SOUTHERN POVERTY LAW CENTER, LAWYERS’ COMMITTEE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS, LOYOLA LAW CLINIC AND SOUTHERN DISABILITY LAW CENTER FILE COMPLAINT AGAINST THE LOUISIANA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

(New Orleans, LA) – The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL), the Community Justice section of the Loyola Law Clinic, and the Southern Disability Law Center filed a federal civil rights lawsuit today against the Louisiana Department of Education (LDE) on behalf of all New Orleans students with special needs. The lawsuit details LDE’s systemic failures to ensure that students with disabilities have equal access to educational services and are protected from discrimination.
“The Louisiana Department of Education recently acknowledged the well-documented barriers facing students with disabilities in New Orleans. This acknowledgement is heartening and gives us hope that we can collaborate to immediately address the urgent crisis facing New Orleans students with disabilities,” said Eden Heilman, lead attorney on the case for the SPLC.

In late July, lawyers for the students filed a complaint with the LDE on behalf of students who have either been completely denied enrollment as a result of their disability or forced to attend schools ill-equipped to accommodate their disabilities in violation of federal law. The complaint was an effort to work collaboratively with the state to craft a solution that would ensure all students have equal access to educational services. The collaborative process stalled while students with disabilities continued their struggle to enroll in school and access the services to which they are entitled.  As a result, it was necessary to file today’s lawsuit.

“Equal access to quality education is a civil right of all children, including those with disabilities,” said Brenda Shum, senior counsel, Educational Opportunities Project, Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “For too long, the Louisiana Department of Education has abdicated its legal and moral obligation to educate these students.  This class-action lawsuit highlights the critical need for ongoing federal and state enforcement of special education and anti-discrimination laws.  It represents a step in the right direction by demanding the state respond to the wholesale failure of special education in New Orleans, which has denied educational opportunity to our most vulnerable children.”

Lekisher Luckett, the mother of a plaintiff in this case, noted that these struggles take a toll on children. She said, “After being treated like a lost cause for years, Darren has come to believe that about himself, my 9-year old son is too young to give up on his education.”

“The children of New Orleans have been through so much over the past five years. Unfortunately, while many have rebounded as their schools and communities have been rebuilt, the most vulnerable have too often been left to languish,” said Davida Finger, assistant clinical professor at the Loyola University Law Clinic in New Orleans. “We know the Louisiana Department of Education is committed to these children and truly hope they will demonstrate that commitment through working with us to address and solve these issues.”

About the Lawyers’ Committee

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of fair housing and fair lending, community development, employment discrimination, voting, education and environmental justice.  For more information about the LCCRUL, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.

About the  Southern Poverty Law Center

The Southern Poverty Law Center, with offices in New Orleans, Atlanta, Miami, Jackson, Miss., and Montgomery, Ala., is a nonprofit civil rights organization that combats bigotry and discrimination through litigation, education and advocacy. For more information, see www.splcenter.org.