Overview
For over two years, Lawyers for Good Government’s policy team has been building alliances with nonprofit organizations at the crossroads of racial justice and children’s rights. We work with these partners to identify their legal research needs, work with you, our pro bono partners to conduct legal research to meet those needs. So far, we have partnered on three separate issues — Corporal Punishment in Schools, Police in Schools, and are now working on a third on School Pushouts — to the great appreciation of our nonprofit partners. Each of these topics are key parts of “the school-to-prison pipeline”, a phrase describing how school policies often lead Black and Brown students into the criminal justice system. See e.g. a 3-minute primer video on the issue by Vox.
We were recently approached by another nonprofit partner requesting assistance on the other side of this issue. The response of the civil rights movement against the school-to-prison pipeline, in calling for an end to corporal punishment and exclusionary discipline, has been “Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports” aka PBIS. But even civil rights experts in the field are uncertain about how PBIS has been implemented at the state level nationwide. Which states attempt to implement it? If they do, how well do they implement it? Is there required training?
This project aims to conduct a 50 state analysis of state laws around PBIS in K-12 public schools, to help allies fighting for reform at the state and national levels.
Project Details
Seeking attorneys from law firms and/or corporate legal departments to research the law in 50 states plus DC, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and US Virgin Islands
Data will allow L4GG to produce a report and uplift model legislation
Clear written instructions and mentorship provided
No prior experience required
Approximately 4-8 hours of work per state/territory
Deadline is COB on Monday, July 31, 2023
To express interest in this project, please fill out the form on this page and select “Lawyers for Racial Justice: Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS)” in the Projects field. Where you are prompted on the form, please provide an estimate of how many of your attorneys you think will be interested and how many states/territories your attorneys will be able to take on.