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Youth

All young people must have the opportunity to meaningfully participate in our society.  The ACLU Youth Policy project seeks to ensure that young people – particularly those who have been historically excluded or underserved – receive meaningful education and services in communities, instead of being pushed to a juvenile justice system that will undermine their ability to be successful as adults.  Our current focus is on reforming school discipline policies and practices, working to limit school-based referrals to the juvenile justice system, and decreasing the over-reliance on jails and prisons for young people in the juvenile and adult criminal law systems.
Stop pushing special education students out of school: ACLU of Washington lawsuit seeks to stop students who require special education from being pushed out of Washington's public schools
PSA to student protesters: You have rights!
Taking a knee: A guide for administrators, teachers, parents, and students
Prosecutors should think twice before charging teens who sext

Resources

Burlington: District Upholds Evolution

News Release, Published: 
Sunday, December 31, 2000
For several years the ACLU has worked with parents to keep creationist teachings out of the science classroom in Burlington-Edison High School. Responding to advocacy by the ACLU and concerned parents, the school board in 1998 backed a decision by the superintendent that the science teacher could no longer teach creationism in the guise of "intelligent design theory" in biology lessons.
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John Corbin v. Patricia Reimen and Edward Frazier

The ACLU filed a friend-of-the-court brief protecting the rights of someone who sought to be legally designated as a de facto parent – one who has been found by the court to have assumed the role of a parent for a substantial period of time.

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Youth

McCleary v. State

Plaintiffs filed this suit to enforce the State’s duty, under the Washington Constitution Article IX, § 1, to provide adequate funding of a “basic education” for all students in public schools statewide.

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Racial Justice
Youth

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