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The Trilogy of Push-Out Cases: Ruiz v. Pedota, RV v. DOE and SG v. DOEDespite the fact the students in New York State have the right to stay in school until they turn 21 or receive a regular high school diploma, in 2002 AFC began receiving many complaints from parents, community-based organizations and GED preparation programs claiming that students were being illegally pushed out of school. The stories were all similar: students, ages 15-20, were being told that they had to leave school simply because they were too old, would not graduate in four years or did not have enough high school credits toward a diploma. Subsequently, in conjunction with community-based organizations, AFC undertook a survey and outreach campaign to try to determine the scope of the problem. This investigation uncovered the fact that literally thousands of teenagers were being discharged from their high schools because they were ‘too old’ and didn’t have enough credits to graduate ‘on time’. AFC, in conjunction with the Public Advocates’ Office published a report in November 2002 concerning school discharge figures, but the report did not result in any citywide changes. This widespread practice, a clear violation of the law, appeared to have developed as a way for schools to maintain the appearance that they were succeeding; discharging difficult-to-educate and older students would keep their graduation rates and test scores higher than they might otherwise be if they maintained these students and attempted to educate them. In January 2003 AFC filed a lawsuit against Franklin K. Lane High School for its illegal practices in discharging students fitting the above description. Within a few weeks, the City Department of Education agreed to undertake a mailing to approximately 5,000 students who had been discharged or transferred from FKL. In this mailing, the Department explained that these students each had a right to return to school and to stay in school until the year in which they turned 21. As a consequence of this mailing, hundreds of students were offered the opportunity to reenroll at FKL High School. In the summer of 2004, Department of Education officials admitted that there was a long-standing citywide problem with schools pushing students out. The issue itself, as well as city officials’ admission was covered extensively in the local press, most notably the New York Times. In the fall of 2003 AFC filed similar lawsuits against two additional individual high schools. All three of these cases were filed in federal court in the Eastern District of New York before Judge Jack B. Weinstein.
Status as of March 2005:All three of the individual school cases settled. Among other things, under the settlement agreements, discharged students were permitted to re-enroll at their high schools and procedures were put in place to provide future students notice of their rights prior to a discharge or transfer. Support services were also put in place for the students at the schools at issue. Also as a result of these lawsuits, the Department of Education put new citywide procedures in place designed to ensure that students would not be illegally pushed out of school and would have notice of their right to stay in school until the age of 21. Selected Documents: FKL Second Amended Complaint - March 28, 2003 RV Complaint - November 7, 2003 MLK Complaint - October 10, 2003 FKL Notice of Settlement - February 2, 2004 Judge Weinstein's Opinion Approving Settlements All Three Lawsuits - June 17, 2004 |
NYS Parent Network