EVERY CHILD’S RIGHT TO LEARN: Resources for Navigating Your Public Schools

WELCOME TO YOUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS

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Under federal law, public schools—traditional or charter—are free and available for every child in the United States, no matter their immigration status. But the current climate of fear and division is giving many families mixed messages about whether they belong.

That’s why UnidosUS has just launched a back-to-school campaign in fall 2019 to make sure everyone feels welcome. On this webpage, educators, parents, and students can find numerous know-your-rights resources in the form of factsheets, webinars, and web links to our wide coalition of partner organizations.

These resources include information on historical court cases that paved the way for equal access to education. For example, Lau vs. Nichols guarantees that schools make every effort to support English learners, and Plyler vs. Doe ensures that undocumented students have the right to attend U.S. public schools. In addition, earlier this summer UnidosUS published an LGBTQIA+ handbook to raise awareness and stop discrimination and bullying against Latinx youth coming out or identifying as LGBTQIA+.

Welcoming Immigrant Students & Families

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Learn about how we can center the experiences of our immigrant students and families to create welcoming schools for all students. This resource is intended to support students, families, educators and program staff working with immigrant communities across a variety of settings. The resource is based on the recognition that a climate of fear exists within our education system and more broadly, in the United States. Every child in this country has a right to learn. Our current educational climate produces profoundly negative impacts upon immigrant children and children that come from mix status household’s learning and development, and that paired with knowing the rights of students, programs and parents can enact simple, effective strategies to protect and defend their children’s development amid the current climate.

General Resources/Recursos Generales

Student & Family Resources

Educator, CBO & Affiliate Resources

Photo from the UnidosUS LGBTQ Toolkit.

Welcoming LGBTQIA+ Students

Learn about how we can center the experiences of LGBTQIA+ students and their families to create welcoming schools for all students. This resource is intended to support students, families, educators and program staff working with LGBTQIA+ students across a variety of settings. The resource is based on the recognition that a climate of fear exists within our education system and more broadly, in the United States. Every child in this country has a right to learn. Our current educational climate produces profoundly negative impacts upon LGBTQIA+ student’s learning and development, and that paired with knowing the rights of students, programs and parents can enact simple, effective strategies to protect and defend their children’s development amid the current climate.

General Resources

Student & Family Resources

Educator, CBO & Affiliate Resources

Photo from the new UnidosUS ALAS LGBTQ Toolkit.

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