Education Committee

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The Education Committee seeks to ensure equal access to education for children and parents who are Limited English Proficient (LEP). The committee has conducted surveys and trainings in the native language of parents to explain their rights and their children's rights to a free public appropriate education. Through these surveys and trainings we realized that LEP parents were not receiving notifications of educational activities or other important documents that relate to their children's education.

The Education Committee held meetings with the school system and Baltimore City Council in 2003 to try and rectify the issues that were identified through our work in the community. While the meetings were held they did not accomplish the results that we as a committee or community sought, so in turn, in 2004 we filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights against BCPSS for failure to provide LEP parents and children with equal access to education and for failure to adhere to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. BCPSS responded to our complaint and the committee meets with them on a monthly basis to discuss ways in which to try and resolve the issues presented in our complaint. While we acknowledge that BCPSS has created system wide changes and policies regarding the LEP community, the information is not filtering down to the individual schools.

Upcoming in the Education Committee

  1. Caridad Morales nussa has started to work with Diana Ford at Patterson High School. She will collaborate with EBLO and Carrera programs to try and re-establish the "Grupo de Padres Latinos" at Patterson HS. EBLO and Carrera are committed to provide services to the children, and the committee will work with parents in developing a PTO/PTA and other strategies to have equal access to school policies.
  2. The Education Committee continues to meet with BCPSS to find creative ways to resolve the issues listed within the complaint.

 

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