Nicki Bazer is co-chair of Franczek’s Higher Education Practice Group, and she advises K-12 and higher education institutions on governance, labor and employment matters, student privacy, and regulatory compliance. She previously served as General Counsel for the Illinois State Board of Education, where she led legislative initiatives, advised on state oversight and policy reform, and facilitated working groups on data security and school funding. Ms. Bazer has extensive experience representing clients in state and federal court, administrative hearings, and labor negotiations.  A frequent speaker on education law, she presents regularly on labor and employment issues, school code compliance, and investigations.  

Beatriz Diaz-Pollack serves as Director of Education Equity at Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights. Her work focuses on addressing systemic disparities in public education and advocating for all students’ rights to a high-quality public-school education. She began her legal practice as a staff attorney at Legal Aid Chicago and has served as an Assistant General Counsel at the Illinois State Board of Education, an Illinois Special Education Due Process Hearing Officer, and as an educator at both the elementary and university levels. Ms. Diaz-Pollack earned her J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School, where she received the Brown v. Board of Education Award for outstanding commitment to public education and poverty law. She also holds an M.S. in Education and Social Policy from Northwestern University and a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She is a proud parent of two current Illinois public school students. 

Miranda Johnson is a clinical professor of law and the director of the Education Law and Policy Institute at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She teaches classes in education law and child and family law, and she supervises the representation of parents and students in school discipline, bullying, and special education cases. She has presented locally and nationally on education law and policy issues. Professor Johnson co-edited the book Discipline Disparities Among Students with Disabilities: Creating Equitable Environments (Teachers College Press, May 2022) (co-edited with Pamela Fenning). She received a J.D., magna cum laude, from NYU School of Law, a Master in Public Affairs from the Princeton School of Public and International Affairs, and a Bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Dartmouth College.

Alyssa-Rae McGinn has extensive experience serving as an investigator, decision maker, hearing chair, mediator/informal resolution facilitator, and interim Title IX Coordinator, with particular expertise in applying regulatory requirements and best practices in complex matters of sexual misconduct and identity-based harassment at educational institutions. Ms. McGinn balances a compassionate understanding of the difficulty parties face being involved in such matters with the importance of remaining compliant with relevant law and policy. She served on the board of the Massachusetts ME/CFS & FM Association and has volunteered with the NYC Anti-Violence Project, East Harlem Tutorial Program, and Team Brownsville. Ms. McGinn holds a Juris Doctor from Syracuse University and Master of Arts and Bachelor of Arts degrees in English from St. John’s University. She is certified by ATIXA as a Civil Rights Investigator and Hearing Officer/Chair, and by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and MetroWest Mediation Services as a Mediator. McGinn is a pre-approved Sexual Misconduct Investigator for the United Educators ProResponse Expert Services Benefit.

Hector Rodriguez is a governmental affairs professional with eight years of experience in state government. He currently serves as the Co-Director of Government Relations for the Illinois State Board of Education. In this role, he works as a liaison between members of the Illinois General Assembly, legislative staff, elementary and secondary education stakeholders, as well as other state entities. As a member of the legislative affairs team, Mr. Rodriguez also assists with ensuring passage of the agency’s legislative agenda, advises and coordinates analysis on legislation impacting K-12 education, provides drafting assistance on proposed bills, and responds to legislative and constituent inquiries. Mr. Rodriguez earned his bachelor's degree from DePaul University and spent a semester abroad at Shanghai University of Finance and Economics.

Dan Schorr is an attorney and investigator with over 25 years of experience in legal and compliance work. He specializes in Title VI and Title IX investigations, sexual misconduct, Civil Rights, and fraud cases in education, corporate, and government settings. Mr. Schorr is a pre-approved Sexual Misconduct Investigator for United Educators and regularly advises schools on compliance, policy, and training. He previously served as a managing director at Ankura and Kroll, Inspector General for the City of Yonkers, and as an assistant district attorney handling sex crimes and homicides. Dan teaches at Fordham Law School and has lectured internationally, including in China through a U.S. State Department grant. He holds a J.D. from Harvard Law School and M.A. and B.A. degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the author of two novels, Final Table and Open Bar.

Dana Stoerger is the Executive Director of Legislative Affairs for the Illinois State Board of Education. Prior to this role, he served as a Legislative Advisor in the Office of the Governor and Policy and Budget Analyst in the Illinois State President’s Office. He holds a B.A. in Political Science and Journalism and an M.P.A. in Non-Profit/Public/Organizational Management from Southern Illinois University, Carbondale.

Mark Walsh is a contributing writer to Education Week, where he has covered education issues in the Supreme Court and lower courts for more than 25 years. He previously served as Washington editor of Education Week, in which he supervised coverage of federal education policy matters, as well as the 2004 and 2008 presidential and congressional elections. Mr. Walsh also writes the Supreme Court Report column for the ABA Journal, the magazine of the American Bar Association. He is a regular contributor to the SCOTUSblog, the website devoted to coverage of the Court. For that website, Mr. Walsh writes the “View from the Courtroom” feature, which documents unusual occurrences in the courtroom such as dissents from the bench. He has a degree in journalism, with a minor in political science, from Northwestern University. He has also studied political science at Georgetown University.

Mark Weber has worked in the field of special education law for many years. He is the author of four books: Special Education Law: Cases and Materials (Carolina Academic Press) (previous editions with Mawdsley and Redfield), Special Education Law and Litigation Treatise (LRP Publications), Understanding Disability Law (Carolina Academic Press), and Disability Harassment (NYU Press). Professor Weber frequently speaks on disability law issues at national and international programs and is active in community service and legislative initiatives. Before joining the DePaul University College of Law faculty, he worked as a staff attorney at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago and as a clinical fellow at the University of Chicago Law School. He was named Vincent de Paul Professor of Law in 2004. He is a graduate of Columbia University and Yale Law School.