Three New Jersey Families File Civil Rights Lawsuit Against the Elizabeth BOE

NEWARK, NJ (04/13/2007)(readMedia)-- Two parents have filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Elizabeth Board of Education for denying their children a substantive right to free pre-school under the NJ Supreme Court's Abbott decisions. Under these decisions, free, full-day preschool for three- and four-year-olds who reside in the Abbott districts was identified as a remedy for education inequity by the State Supreme Court. Under the Court order, parents are entitled to choose from a variety of public, private, or community-based providers. The lawsuit is being undertaken on behalf of the plaintiff parents under the representation of attorneys Eric Taylor & Kevin Mitchell of Taylor & Mitchell in Audubon, New Jersey.

"We are filing this lawsuit because the Elizabeth Public School District is the entity charged with facilitating the receipt of pre-school services for the children that live in the District," said Mr. Taylor. "They have been given the responsibility of making sure all the 3-and 4-year-olds in the District receive publicly funded pre-school services, irrespective of whether or not those services are provided by the public schools or by a private provider," Taylor explained.

His colleague, attorney Kevin Mitchell, said, "Elizabeth public schools have not lived up their responsibilities and, in fact, have misinformed and misled parents about their options." He added that, "The District has put in place a Byzantine system to govern pre-school placements and have declared all 4-year-olds in the District to be their exclusive domain. As a result, many parents and families are not receiving their constitutionally guaranteed level of educational services."

The Newark and Camden-based Excellent Education for Everyone (E3) is supporting the families in this legal action, which seeks to end the confusing placement lottery and waiting list that is used by the Elizabeth schools for pre-school admissions. The lawsuit further seeks to end the District's claim that it must be the sole pre-school provider for all the 4-year-olds in the District, and end its practice of denying three-year-olds preschool at the District's neighborhood schools. The relief sought includes reaffirming the right of each parent to obtain pre-school services for pre-school aged children from a pre-school services provider of their choosing, whether public or private.

A copy of the complaint can be downloaded at www.nje3.org

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