Learning Rights Law Center

Learning Rights Law Center seeks to achieve education equity for low-income and disadvantaged students in the public education system in the greater Los Angeles area. We change the lives of at-risk students who have disabilities, face discrimination or are involved in the dependency or juvenile justice systems by providing free legal services, education advocacy, and community training. We believe that every child has a right to learn. The focus of our direct legal representation and education advocacy is to get low income and disadvantaged children the education services and support they need to succeed in school. The purpose of our education training and community outreach programs is to empower families and provide a basis for true grassroots education reform. Our vision is a world in which all children may pursue a meaningful and equitable education that provides them with a brighter future and the means to become successful adults.

LRLC has recently created its first Impact Statement which states: By 2026 Learning Rights Law Center will ensure equal access to the public education system for 10,000 low-income students at-risk of educational failure. By advocating for the education rights of these youth, Learning Rights will be a catalyst for healthier, more inclusive learning environments that are free of discrimination and prepare every child to succeed. To achieve this impact, Learning Rights will: a) Ensure students' access to an appropriate education; b) Inform and empower students and their families so that they are part of the solution and sustain change; c) Partner with stakeholders, legislators and educators to create more inclusive and healthier schools that are free from discrimination; d) Recruit, train, and retain the most talented staff, volunteers and Board to most effectively achieve our mission; and e) Increase, strengthen and diversify funding streams to ensure growth and sustainability.

Learning Rights is uniquely positioned to make a lasting change in the lives of students with education-access issues in Southern California. We are the only legal services nonprofit focused on securing the education rights of underserved youth. We employ some of California's most distinguished special education law experts working in the public interest field. Over the past five years, Learning Rights expanded its programming to include two additional counties in Southern California and doubled its revenues by heavily investing in its infrastructure, fundraising strategies, staffing benefits, training and compensation.

Learning Rights distinguishes itself from any other legal services nonprofit in Southern California through its unique approach to helping its clients:
• Learning Rights provides low-income students with quality legal representation for free - When parents with financial resources hire an education rights lawyer, they do so to receive help filing for Due Process with the Office of Administrative Hearings' Special Education Division (the body that hears disputes around special education services, supports and placements). As a result, Learning Rights focuses most of its direct legal representation on providing access to these administrative Due Process hearings for parents who otherwise could not afford them. Our number of these education-related Due Process filings is unequaled by any other legal services nonprofit in Southern California.
• Learning Rights' philosophy is sustainable and efficient - Learning Rights believes in the power of self-advocacy. Our TIGER Program teaches parents how to advocate for their child throughout the school year - at parent meetings and through written correspondence. Learning Rights supports parents as they try to secure an effective education on their own.

LRLC successfully completed the goals of its 2015-2018 Strategic Plan:
-Outreach and Communications – We reached over 22,000 individuals in 2017, and have expanded our reach to the Mandarin-speaking community by partnering with CPAD and Asian Youth Center.
-Fund Development – We continue to diversify our funding sources, and have met our goals for both government funding and event funding in 2017 and 2018. Additionally we have continued to forge more relationships with corporations and have received over ten times as many matching gifts as we did in 2016.
-Program Expansion and Effectiveness – We have taken our chief program – TIGER - online, serving additional parents of children with education-access issues and other stakeholders. This expansion has successfully broken down the geographic and scheduling barriers associated with in-person teaching. Additionally, LRLC has expanded its policy and special advocacy work by introducing the Environmental Justice Project. The Project will create healthier communities by eliminating known environmental pollutants that negatively affect child development, communicating those pollutants to communities, and by ensuring treatment for those affected. Our goal is to utilize impact litigation, supported by education and disability rights laws, to increase environmental compliance and change laws and local district/county policies to ensure that schools and places where children learn and play are safe from future contamination.
-Board Development – In 2017 and 2018, we had 100% participation in the Board's Give or Get Policy. Most recently, our staff and board participated in the Annenberg Foundation's Alchemy Plus (we previously completed the Alchemy Seminar as well).
-Organizational Dynamic – In 2016, we implemented comprehensive benefits and salary packages to better support our talented staff. In 2017, we expanded the package to cover spouses and dependents of our staff, as well as increased our staff training budget.
LRLC continues to address the challenges related to technology and aging infrastructure. As LRLC has grown in the past few years we have felt the limitations of our aging technological infrastructure. Where a computer purchased in 2008 would have lasted 5-7 years, one purchased today might only last 3-5 before it is being outpaced by the size and strength of the programs we wish to run on it. A significant realization we made as a member of the Annenberg Tech cohort was the need for financial investment in technology, and we are planning to factor this investment into our budget in years to come.

Learning Rights is currently developing its next Strategic Plan to establish goals for 2020-2022.