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Lawyers’ Committee’s Case Seeking Equal Education for Students with Special Needs in New Orleans Progresses
On April 26th, the Lawyers’ Committee won a hearing before Judge Jay Zainey of the Eastern District of Louisiana on the Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss the case of P.B. v. Pastorek. This critical victory allows Plaintiffs to proceed in their efforts to secure equal access to a meaningful education for New Orleans children with disabilities.
The Lawyers’ Committee and its partners brought the case on behalf of over 4,500 New Orleans students with special needs who are currently denied equal access to educational opportunities and who are often subjected to discrimination on the basis of their disabilities. These students experience enormous difficulty trying to enroll in schools, which are unwilling and unable to provide the necessary services special needs students require. Once enrolled, students are not routinely identified as having disabilities, are denied proper services, and are disciplined and pushed out of school for behaviors related to their conditions.
These discriminatory actions inflict significant harm upon New Orleans students with special needs, and as Judge Zainey ruled this past Tuesday, represent systemic violations of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), the Rehabilitation Act, and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Tuesday’s victory was especially meaningful for the parents and advocates who attended the hearing. The Lawyers’ Committee’s Brenda Shum, who argued the case before the Court, said “this represents a critical victory for these families, who have been tireless advocates for their children. These families give a face and voice to the unintended but devastating consequences of the state's abdication of their responsibility to ensure that students with special needs have access to equal and meaningful educational opportunities in New Orleans.”
In order to seek immediate remedies, Plaintiffs filed a motion for preliminary injunction, asking the court to prevent the Louisiana Department of Education from continuing its harmful practices during the ongoing lawsuit. Among other requests, the court was asked to require the LDE to implement broader outreach efforts to identify students with disabilities and to educate the students and their parents about their rights under the law. Plaintiffs intend to hold hearings on both the preliminary injunction and class certification later this year.
The federal class action lawsuit, P.B. v. Pastorek (2:10-cv-04049), was filed by the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Southern Poverty Law Center, the law firm of Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP, the Community Justice section of the Loyola Law Clinic in New Orleans and the Southern Disability Law Center.
Please click here to view the motion and here to learn more about our efforts to ensure that all New Orleans students are able to obtain a quality education.
