Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Support to Decriminalize Residency Laws

It’s high time that parents stop being arrested for trying to get a decent education for their children, so it’s great to see this open letter from range of organizations (including DFER’s Kevin Chavous and Gloria Romero) across the country calling on Sec. Duncan to open an investigation on residency laws:

Dear Secretary Duncan and Office for Civil Rights:

We, the undersigned, write to express concern over the criminal prosecution of parents due to school residency laws inhibiting parental choice in the public education system.

The Connecticut Parents Union is a member of a national coalition to decriminalize school residency laws. We formed the coalition to address and advocate for the increased number of parents being arrested and prosecuted for enrolling their children in safe and high quality schools outside of their neighborhoods when safe and high quality school options are not available where they live.

The matter of Due Process and Equal Protection, as stipulated in the 14th Amendment, requires a review and determination from the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, as it relates to cases such as Mr. Hamlet and Mrs. Olesia Garcia of Philadelphia, Ms. Kelley Williams-Bolar of Ohio and Ms. Marie Menard of Connecticut, just to name a few parents charged with educational theft.

As a result, we request that the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights review and respond to this matter concerning two areas of federal law:

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