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Miranda Johnson appointed institute director

Miranda Johnson appointed institute director

Loyola University Chicago School of Law is pleased to announce that Miranda Johnson, clinical professor and associate director of the Education Law and Policy Institute, has been named the Institute’s new director.  

Founded in 2006 by then-associate dean Michael Kaufman, the Education Law and Policy Institute was created to serve the educational needs of children through the law and has grown to become a vital component of Loyola’s nationally recognized Civitas ChildLaw Center.
Since 2012, Professor Johnson has been a critical part of its leadership team, working alongside Dean Kaufman as the Institute’s associate director to oversee curricular development, research and outreach efforts, educational advocacy, and numerous other initiatives.    

Professor Johnson directs the Education Law Practicum and supervises law students in the representation of parents and students in school discipline and special education cases. She supervised the creation of Stand Up for Each Other Chicago (SUFEO), a project developed in partnership with the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights to provide information and advocacy support to parents and students seeking to challenge suspensions issued to pre-K to 12th grade students.

She has also been instrumental in the development of two programs created with Loyola’s School of Education—a new online Certificate in School Discipline Reform that is designed to lead comprehensive initiatives to reduce the use of suspensions and expulsions, and the launch of a JD/MEd dual degree in Law and Education Policy. She also created with Loyola’s School of Education and a team of attorneys, school psychologists, and policy advocates, the Transforming School Discipline Collaborative (TSDC) to support implementation of equitable and non-exclusionary discipline practices.  She is a contributor to TSDC’s Model Student Code of Conduct, and an accompanying resource toolkit. 

Professor Johnson co-developed a proposal approved by the Illinois State Board of Education to offer training on prevention-oriented approaches to school discipline for school administrators.  The initiative has provided training to more than 600 administrators throughout the state. She has co-presented on this initiative at various state and national conferences, and coauthored an article on this topic for Loyola’s Children’s Legal Rights Journal

Professor Johnson is responsible for the expansion of Loyola’s outreach and programming offerings in the area of education law.  She created “Loyola’s Education Law: A Year in Review,” an annual event that brings together more than 100 attorneys, educators, and other professionals interested in issues related to education law and policy.  She has developed numerous career and informational programs on education law at Loyola and has contributed to Loyola’s outstanding partnership with the Family Action Network, which has brought to campus nationally-known speakers such as U.S. Rep. and civil rights icon John Lewis, and Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Colson Whitehead and Matthew Desmond. 

Prior to assuming as the role of associate director of the Education Law and Policy Institute, Professor Johnson served as the Salisbury Clinical Teaching Fellow in Child and Family Law in Loyola’s Civitas ChildLaw Clinic. Before joining Loyola, she worked as a staff attorney at Advocates for Children of New York and served as a law clerk for the Honorable Allyne R. Ross, United States District Court Judge for the Eastern District of New York.

She earned a JD from New York University School of Law and a Master in Public Affairs from Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.  She was previously awarded a Fulbright scholarship to Tanzania.

“I am looking forward to continuing to enhance Loyola’s initiatives in the area of education law and policy, which provide rich learning opportunities for our students and further our social justice mission,” says Miranda Johnson. “The Education Law and Policy Institute’s work to promote educational equity builds on the Civitas ChildLaw Center’s long-standing commitment to protecting the rights of vulnerable children and families.”

Professor Johnson will assume the role of director of the Education Law and Policy Institute effective immediately.