Practicing Law Institute: The Missing School Bus
This podcast episode from the Practicing Law Institute features the pro bono team, including Children’s Law Center’s Director of Special Legal Projects Kathy Ziesel, behind the federal class action seeking to remedy systemwide issues with bus transportation for students with disabilities in D.C.
Thousands of Washington, D.C. area kids with disabilities rely on buses for transportation to the schools that can serve their educational needs — some of which are very far from their homes. But for years, the DC school bus system has been failing these students, with buses that arrive late, or not at all, or with safety concerns, all of which impacts their access to education. In this episode, hear from a local parent about her experience with this dysfunctional system — and how a pro bono team including Kathy Zeisel of the Children’s Law Center, Shira Wakschlag of The Arc, Kaitlin Banner of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and Christopher Shoemaker of McDermott Will & Schulte have brought a major federal class action seeking to remedy these issues systemwide.
The District is Failing to Provide Transportation for Students with Disabilities
Parents and guardians of children with disabilities living in the District of Columbia, along with The Arc of the United States, filed a class action lawsuit on March 7, 2024 against DC’s Office of the State Superintendent for Education for failing to provide safe, reliable and effective transportation to and from schools for children with disabilities, thereby denying students equal access to their education and unnecessarily segregating them from their peers.