STAFF ATTORNEY – EDUCATION AND CIVIL RIGHTS

Education Law Center (ELC) seeks a full-time Staff Attorney to join ELC’s legal, policy, and communications team working nationwide to enforce education rights and promote racial justice and civil rights for public school students under state and federal law. The role is primarily remote; however, applicants must reside close enough to New Jersey to attend periodic in-person events.

The Staff Attorney will participate in all of ELC’s core areas of legal and policy advocacy work. In the area of Educational Equity and Civil Rights, the work includes protecting students’ rights and fostering equitable and nondiscriminatory school environments, including advocacy for students of color, such as challenging racially disparate discipline practices and other contributors to the school to prison pipeline, and systemic litigation to combat racial and socioeconomic segregation in public schools. The Staff Attorney will also advocate on behalf of students with disabilities, multilingual learners, LGBTQ+ students, immigrant students, and other underserved students. ELC is committed to fighting classroom censorship, including attempts to censor teaching about concepts related to race, sex, and LGBTQ+ issues. Although this work is national in scope, the majority of ELC’s student rights work will involve litigation and advocacy on behalf of New Jersey students and families.

In the area of School Finance & Resource Equity, the work includes ensuring fairness and adequacy in school funding and the equitable provision of resources essential to effectuate students’ constitutional and legal rights to public education.

The Staff Attorney may also support the work of Public Funds Public Schools (PFPS), a national campaign directed by ELC to prevent the diversion of public funds to private school vouchers and fight school privatization.

Founded in 1973, ELC serves as a leading voice for public school children and has become one of the most effective advocates for equal educational opportunity and education justice in the United States. Widely recognized for groundbreaking court rulings on behalf of low-income students, ELC also promotes educational equity through coalition building, litigation support, policy development, communications, and action-focused research in states nationwide and at the federal level. ELC’s legal and policy advocacy continues to advance the causes of fair school funding, high quality early education, safe and adequate school facilities, and protection of students’ education and civil rights.

Job Responsibilities

The specific duties include but are not limited to:

• assisting and participating in civil trial and appellate litigation in state and federal courts;
• monitoring relevant litigation, providing technical legal assistance, and preparing amicus briefs;
• tracking, reviewing, and commenting on legislation and proposed rules and regulations for legal and equity impacts;
• coordinating attorneys and other staff at ELC and partner organizations on litigation and other advocacy activities;
• drafting tools for legislative advocacy;
• producing news articles, policy briefs and reports;
• outreach and network building with those engaged in related work;
• providing technical assistance and information to other advocacy organizations;
• supervising law fellows and students; and
• assisting in the preparation of grant proposals and reports.

Qualifications

• New Jersey bar admission required within one year of starting the position;
• a demonstrated commitment to education equity and racial justice in education;
• experience working with or in diverse communities, including with people of color, LGBTQ+ people, youth, multilingual communities, immigrants, persons with disabilities, or low-income individuals;
• some experience in civil rights work, with experience in education law and/or policy preferred;
• a desire to litigate;
• excellent legal research and analytical skills;
• excellent written and verbal communications skills, including through social and other media;
• excellent organizational, networking, and relationship-building skills;
• demonstrated ability to work in collaboration across organizational boundaries to achieve
• agreed-upon goals;
• ability to attend periodic in-person meetings and hearings in New Jersey; and
• commitment to the mission of ELC.

ELC is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining exceptional people, and to creating a work environment that is dynamic, rewarding, and respectful toward all employees. ELC is an equal opportunity employer that respects the full spectrum of races, ethnicities, national origins, ages, sexual orientations, gender identities, religions, beliefs, cultures, socio-economic backgrounds and levels of physical ability. ELC encourages persons of color, women, LGBTQ+ persons, persons with disabilities, and members of other underrepresented communities to apply.