Practice Area Details
Educational Equity Law
Hughes, Socol, Piers, Resnick & Dym, Ltd. has significant experience in counseling and representing school districts, educators, parents and students in the areas of educational equity and parity, including compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and representation during investigations conducted by the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Education.
Representative Matters
People Who Care v. Rockford Board of Education. Trial and liability determination of a class action school desegregation case. The court's ruling included the most detailed findings in the history of school desegregation litigation. The remedial order entered following the determination of liability provided for the effective integration of African American and Latino students in the second largest public school district in Illinois, as well as tens of millions of dollars of new school construction in minority neighborhoods.
Represented in litigation several predominately African-American school districts challenging the decision made by eleven predominately white high school districts to secede from and form a new, predominantly white high school interscholastic conference. The separation of the conferences would have effectively ended regular season competition between majority-white and majority-African-American high schools in this area. This case, one of the first to use the “effects test” provisions of the Illinois Civil Rights Act of 2003, settled on terms that assured integrated conferences and continued regular season competition and meetings between majority-white and majority-African-American high schools.
Represented a school district during a two-year investigation by the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights of allegations of national origin discrimination in transitional bilingual education programs, which resulted in a finding of no discrimination and dismissal of the charges.
Provided legal counseling and analysis of an Illinois school district’s gifted and other special education programs for compliance with Title VI.
Successfully represented two students against charges of plagiarism brought against them by a university, resulting in a dismissal of the charges.
Represented the nation's second largest teacher's union local in all union legal matters.
Represented district superintendents in contract negotiation and litigation.
