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Ruling in ACLU Case Is Vindication of Students' Constitutional Rights (6/25/2009)
The U.S. Supreme Court today ruled that school officials violated the constitutional rights of a 13-year-old Arizona girl when they strip searched her based on a classmate's uncorroborated accusation that she previously possessed ibuprofen. The American Civil Liberties Union represents April Redding, the plaintiff in the lawsuit, whose daughter, Savana Redding, was strip searched by Safford Middle School officials six years ago.
> Press Release

Lead plaintiff Milo Sheff at the time of the 1996 filing and in a recent photograph. Read the case profile >>

New Agreement in Hartford Desegregation Case (4/4/2008)
The ACLU, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Center for Children’s Advocacy and cooperating attorneys have struck an agreement 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. The settlement has been approved by the Connecticut legislature and awaits approval by the judge.
Read the ACLU press release >>
Read The Hartford Courant's call to action >>

Dismal High School Graduation Rates Violate Florida Constitution, Says ACLU Lawsuit (3/18/2008)
On March 18, 2008, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a first-of-its-kind class action lawsuit against the School Board and Superintendent of Palm Beach County, Florida, charging that the district’s failure to graduate nearly 1 in 3 students violates the state constitution’s mandate of a “uniform, efficient, safe, secure, and high quality education.” This is the first case in the country focusing on graduation rates as an indicator of educational adequacy.
More about Schroeder v. Palm Beach County School Board >>

In June of 2007, the Supreme Court of the United States delivered a devastating blow to voluntary K-12 school integration programs in its decision in the Seattle/Louisville cases, but there are still options for quality, integrated schools. Recent manuals from the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, Mexican American Legal Defense Fund, and the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles provide valuable information about how school districts and communities can continue to promote diversity and address racial isolation in education.
Read more about the ACLU's efforts to promote school integration >>

Plaintiffs with ACLU lawyers the night the settlement was reached.

Settlement Approved in Case Alleging Discrimination Against Native American Students in South Dakota (12/10/2007)
A federal district court judge has approved a settlement in a class action lawsuit alleging discrimination against Native American children enrolled in the Winner School District. The ACLU is now working with the Winner/Ideal Native American community and the District to meet the settlement's goals. Learn More About the Case>>

Appeals Court Rebuffs Effort to End School Desegregation Programs (12/19/2008)
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Los Angeles Unified School District must continue to run desegregation programs that provide all children access to a quality education, a state court of appeal ruled today in a decision that agreed with the ACLU of Southern California's position that the key programs should stand.

ACLU Report Reveals Arrests At Hartford-Area Schools On Rise (11/17/2008)
HARTFORD, CT – Police arrests of students at Hartford-area schools are on the rise, according to a new American Civil Liberties Union report released today, a trend that disproportionately impacts children of color.

NYCLU, ACLU Warn NYPD about Illegal Arrests of Schoolchildren (10/08/2008)

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

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.

The Right to Education in the Juvenile and Criminal Justice Systems in the United States (02/05/2009)
On December 31, 2008 the Dignity in Schools Campaign and six organizations -- including the ACLU -- submitted a report on the right to education in U.S. juvenile and criminal justice facilities to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education, Mr. Vernor Muñoz. The report documents the school to prison pipeline; demographic and educational characteristics of the juvenile and adult incarcerated populations; the lack of adequate access to quality education programs in juvenile facilities and state and federal prisons; and examples of youth detention facilities in New York, Texas, and Louisiana that violate the rights of youth to education and to be treated with dignity. The report was submitted to the Special Rapporteur, who is currently preparing a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council about prisoner education worldwide to be released in June 2009.

(A Special Rapporteur is an independent expert appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council. The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education is called upon to examine, monitor, advise and publicly report back on the status of the human right to education in countries around the world.)

Hard Lessons: School Resource Officer Programs and School-Based Arrests in Three Connecticut Towns (11/17/2008)

Preserving Integration Options for Latino Children: A Manual for Educators, Civil Rights Leaders, and the Community (02/01/2008)
This manual from the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) and the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles (CRP) describes the impact of the recent Supreme Court ruling in the Seattle/Louisville cases and outlines viable options for promoting racial diversity in schools in the wake of this decision.

Still Looking to the Future: Voluntary K-12 School Integration - A Manual for Parents, Educators and Advocates (01/11/2008)
This Manual, a joint project of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) and the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles (CRP), provides valuable guidance and information about how communities and school districts can promote racial diversity and address racial isolation in schools nationwide. This Second Edition of the Manual is being issued on the heels of the Supreme Court's June 2007 decision in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1, which limited the ability of school districts to take race into account in achieving these goals. More information is available on the NAACP Legal Defense Fund's website at http://www.naacpldf.org/.

Plaintiffs' Op-Ed on Sheff and School Integration (07/29/2007)

Williams v. Monroe County Board of Education - Complaint (05/21/2008)

Sheff v. O'Neill - Stipulation and Proposed Order (04/04/2008)

Cantrell v. Granholm Decision (03/18/2008)
The ACLU, NAACP Legal Defense fund and others filed suit against Michigan's Proposal 2, a ban on affirmative action, in December of 2006. A federal judge dismissed the suit.

Schroeder v. Palm Beach County School Board - Class Action Complaint (03/18/2008)

Complaint in Harris et al v Atlanta Independent School System (03/11/2008)

Testimony of Dennis D. Parker Before United Nations Forum on Minority Issues Minorities and the Right to Education (12/15/2008)
Testimony delivered by Dennis D. Parker, Director of ACLU Racial Justice Program before the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues: Minorities and the Right to Education on December 15, 2008 in Geneva.

Minority Access to Education in the United States (12/07/2008)
Recent Developments and Recommendations by the ACLU regarding Minority Access to Education in the United States, issued December 2008. Submitted to the United Nations Forum on Minority Issues.

Letter from the ACLU Asking the House Committee on Education and Labor to Oppose Any Discriminatory Amendment to the College Opportunity and Affordability Act that Could Force Accreditation of Universities that Engage in Discrimination (11/14/2007)

Profiles of Kids at Risk - Atlanta, GA (02/26/2008)

Integration of Public Schools (02/08/2007)

Progress Toward Desegregation in Metropolitan Hartford (08/03/2004)

50 Years Later: Brown v. Board of Education (05/17/2004)
Fifty years ago in the watershed opinion Brown v. Board of Education, Chief Justice Earl Warren, on behalf of the U.S. Supreme Court, declared, "In the field of public education, the doctrine of 'separate but equal' has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal."

School to Prison Pipeline: Talking Points (06/06/2008)

Myths and Facts about Affirmative Action (04/04/2008)
This fact sheet, a joint project of the ACLU Racial Justice Program, ACLU Human Rights Program and the African American Policy Forum, debunks common myths about affirmative action and provides basic information about the deceptive "civil rights" initiatives being forwarded in 5 states this fall 2008. Learn more about the most common myths about affirmative action at www.aapf.org/focus.

Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (10/13/2006)
The Court rejected the constitutionality of school district plans in Seattle and Louisville that used race as a factor in student assignment in an effort to address racial segregation in K-12 schools. DECIDED

Schroeder v. Palm Beach County School Board (03/18/2008)
In this case, the ACLU charges that the shamefully low high school graduation rates in Florida's Palm Beach County violate students’ constitutional right to a high-quality education.

Harris et al. v. Atlanta Independent School System (03/11/2008)
A class action lawsuit against the Atlanta Independent School System and Community Education Partners (CEP) for violating students’ constitutional right to an adequate public education.

Sheff v. O'Neill (02/09/2007)
A groundbreaking school desegregation case in Hartford, Connecticut.

Antoine v. Winner School District (03/28/2006)
The ACLU recently settled this lawsuit, which alleged discrimination against Native American students in a mostly-white school district in South Dakota. The ACLU is now working with the community and the defendant school district to implement changes in the district's schools.