Advancing Equal Access to Education
October 30, 2023
Annual PILR Symposium explores issues of educational equity, disability, and child advocacy.
Equal access to education took center stage at the recent annual symposium hosted by the Richmond Public Interest Law Review. The event, titled "Not Just for Learning: A Comprehensive Look at How IEPs and 504 Plans Affect Youth," delved into the educational experiences of students with disabilities and explored how individual education plans can improve these experiences.
“Assuring educational equality for all students is part of who we need to be as a country,” said Dean Wendy Perdue. “All of our young people have enormous potential, but we have to put in place the necessary measures to help them realize that potential. It’s not always easy, and sometimes it requires the intervention of experts to ensure a smooth educational journey.”
Hosted by PILR, Richmond Law’s scholarly voice for issues pertaining to social welfare, public policy, and a broad spectrum of jurisprudence, the symposium guided attendees through the structure of IEPs and 504 plans, how to get them, how lawyers can advocate for youths with disabilities, how IEPs can be applied to adult cases, and how to address issues when things do not go as planned.
PILR Symposium Editors, Nicole Evans, L’24, and Erin Sweet, L’24, designed the event based on their shared interests in disability issues and child advocacy.
“We hope participants came away with not only a better understanding of what resources are available for students with disabilities, but also the vast issues that face children, parents, and advocates when trying to access these options,” Erin said.
While there is still work to be done in this area, according to Erin, there is also room for optimism in the pursuit of a more inclusive education system. “There is much hope to be had because the first step to solving a problem is to name it, and the second is to talk about the ways to change it,” she said.
“Assuring educational equality for all students is part of who we need to be as a country,” said Dean Wendy Perdue. “All of our young people have enormous potential, but we have to put in place the necessary measures to help them realize that potential. It’s not always easy, and sometimes it requires the intervention of experts to ensure a smooth educational journey.”
Hosted by PILR, Richmond Law’s scholarly voice for issues pertaining to social welfare, public policy, and a broad spectrum of jurisprudence, the symposium guided attendees through the structure of IEPs and 504 plans, how to get them, how lawyers can advocate for youths with disabilities, how IEPs can be applied to adult cases, and how to address issues when things do not go as planned.
PILR Symposium Editors, Nicole Evans, L’24, and Erin Sweet, L’24, designed the event based on their shared interests in disability issues and child advocacy.
“We hope participants came away with not only a better understanding of what resources are available for students with disabilities, but also the vast issues that face children, parents, and advocates when trying to access these options,” Erin said.
While there is still work to be done in this area, according to Erin, there is also room for optimism in the pursuit of a more inclusive education system. “There is much hope to be had because the first step to solving a problem is to name it, and the second is to talk about the ways to change it,” she said.