ChildLaw and Education Institute
Dedicated to Educational Excellence and Equity for Children
A vital component of the Civitas ChildLaw Center, the Loyola University Chicago ChildLaw and Education Institute is designed for students, faculty, judges, practitioners, business leaders and policy makers who strive to serve the educational needs of children through the law.
THE CHILDLAW AND EDUCATION INSTITUTE OFFERS:
- A comprehensive and intergrated curriculum in education law for students of law and education, as well as for attorneys, educators and school administrators.
- Collaborative and interdisciplinary research and outreach through publications, conferences, web-based initiatives and community programs in the field of education law and policy.
- Advocacy resources for children confronting barriers to educational opportunities and educational connections.
A COMPREHENSIVE AND INTERGRATED EDUCATION LAW CURRICULUM
COLLABORATIVE AND INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND OUTREACH
ADVOCACY RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN
VISIONARY AND DEDICATED LEADERSHIP
A COMPREHENSIVE AND INTERGRATED EDUCATION LAW CURRICULUM
The Institute has developed an array of more than 30 courses designed to train law students, education graduate students, attorneys and educators to address the full range of educational needs of children. The course offerings include:
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Disability Law
The Institute's courses are taught by full-time faculty at Loyola University Chicago School of Law, each of whom has expertise in a variety of legal issues faced by schools in the United States and beyond. In addition, the Institute offers courses taught by the law school's outstanding adjunct faculty, including the nation's leading jurists, practitioners, educators and school administrators.
The Institute also partners with other University departments and educational institutions to offer interdisciplinary classes and training programs for students, policy makers and advocates.
The Institute also has joined with the School of Education to offer a dual J.D./M.A. degree in Comparative Law and Education. That program, offered by the School of Law and the Cultural and Educational Policy Studies program of the Graduate School of Education, focuses on the legal right of children to an education. This program will produce legal experts who have a grasp of global issues of education with expertise in the legal right of children.
Comparative Law is the study of differences and similarities among the legal systems of nations. Comparative Education applies the intellectual tools of history and the social services to understanding international issues of education. The importance of these comparative fields has increased enormously in the present age of internationalism, economic globalization, and democratization. This joint program brings together the two fields of Comparative law and Comparative Education on behalf of international advocacy for children's rights to an education.
Benefits
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The dual-degree program makes it possible to earn both J.D. and M.A. degrees simultaneously and in a much shorter time that if the two degrees were pursed independently.
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Students who complete the requirements for the dual degree in Comparative Law and Education will also receive an additional credential: the Certificate in International Law and Practice. The Certificate signifies to prospective employers, universities and funding agencies that they are uniquely qualified to study or practice in the arena of international and comparative law.
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Enjoy the support of two prestigious centers and their network of accomplished faculty and distinguished alumni throughout their professional careers.
COLLABORATIVE AND INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AND OUTREACH
The Institute conducts programs in conjunction with the Loyola University Chicago School of Education and the Erikson Graduate School of Child Development, including the first national interdisciplinary conference on The Law and Policy of Universal Preschool. In addition, the Institute collaborates with other University publications and platforms to disseminate research regarding the most pressing contemporary issues confronting education law and policy. To that end, in February 2009, the Institute co-sponsored the Public Interest Law Reporter Symposium entitled, "Separate and Unequal? The Socioeconomic Realities of Public Education in America."
The Institute publishes its research in the ChildLaw and Education Institute Forum. Moreover, the Institute partners with the Children's Legal Rights Journal and the Public Interest Law Reporter to publish its conference papers.
The Institute's faculty also publishes highly regarded and influential scholarship in the field of education law through leading books and articles.
The Institute operates a Street Law program that brings law students to urban high schools to teach legal concepts.
The Institute works with Loyola University Chicago's Center for Comparative Education to conduct international research regarding global education issues.
The Institute sponsors field projects, experiential learning and community support throughout the nation and the world, including support for education institutions in Africa, Thailand, Chile and India.
ADVOCACY RESOURCES FOR CHILDREN
The Institute serves the educational needs of children through direct representation, impact litigation and policy initiatives, including:
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Support for children in the special education process
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Support for children denied educational services because of race or gender
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Support for children whose educational opportunities are limited by exposure to hazardous materials and living conditions
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Support for children who are disconnected from the educational system because of exposure to the juvenile justice system, mobility or displacement
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Support for homeless children seeking learning opportunities
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Support for disciplined or expelled children
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Support for efforts to make preschool available to all children
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Support for equitable funding of educational opportunities
The Institute empowers law students to work on these matters in conjunction with its partners and affiliates including:
Futterman & Howard
Legal Assistance Foundation
Equip for Equality
The Child and Family Law Center
VISIONARY AND DEDICATED LEADERSHIP
The Institute's curricular and co-curricular program has been developed by Dean Michael Kaufman and Professor Hillary Weis Coustan. Dean Kaufman serves as Director of the Institute as well as Associate Dean and Professor of Law at Loyola University Chicago. Dean Kaufman is the author of countless book and articles on education law and policy, including the leading text-book used in law school and education classes devoted to education: Education Law, Policy and Practice (2009). He has been a member of the law school faculty for more than 20 years, and teaches courses in education law, education policy and comparative education law.
Dean Kaufman also has been elected to three terms as a member of the board of education for a large, diverse elementary school district in the Chicago area, and has served as its president and vice-president. Before joining the law school faculty, Dean Kaufman litigated education and disability rights issues at a leading law firm, clerked for Judge Nathaniel Jones of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, and counseled the parties in the Kansas City school desegregation matter.
Professor Hillary Coustan is the Associate Director of the ChildLaw and Education Institute. She received her J.D. from Stanford Law School, where she was a Public Interest Fellow and worked in the Youth and Education Law Clinic. Prior to law school, she worked as a program coordinator for a national scholarship program and as a policy associate for a charter school organization. After law school, Hillary clerked for the Honorable Robert W. Gettleman, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. She has published articles regarding access to educational resources, has advocated on behalf of the educational rights of children, and teaches disability law and Loyola's Education Law Practicum.
