Law Commons^™

Guarding The Schoolhouse Gate: Protecting The Educational Rights Of Children In Foster Care, Amy Reichbach, Marlies Spanjaard

Faculty Publications

Children in foster care encounter numerous obstacles to educational success. Among these is exclusion from school, the significance of which cannot be overstated. Multiple studies have revealed both anecdotal and statistical links between suspension and failure to graduate. Recognizing that children have protected interests in their education, in 1975 the United States Supreme Court established that students facing even short suspensions from school are entitled to due process. Children in foster care, however, are rarely in a position to ensure that their due process rights, including the right not to be excluded from school arbitrarily, are protected adequately. Given the …