MAC’s Janine Solomon accepts Boston Bar Association’s Award for the Education Law Task Force

Boston Bar Association President Jon Albano presenting MAC Senior Project Director Janine Solomon with the President’s Award. Janine accepted the award on behalf of the Education Law Task Force for their work on dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. Photo credit: Alëna Kuzub

Janine Solomon, MAC’s Managing Attorney and Senior Project Director, accepted the Boston Bar Association’s (BBA) President’s Award on behalf of the Education Law Task Force (ELTF) on September 28th at the BBA’s annual meeting.

The ELTF is a major statewide coalition of legal services and public interest attorneys and advocates that MAC leads to address education issues that face low-income children. ELTF played a leading role in the enactment of Chapter 222 of the Acts of 2012, which holds schools to more stringent standards relating to school discipline through stricter data reporting, due process requirements, advance notice of disciplinary hearings, and other regulations with the goal of reserving suspension or expulsion from school for only the worst of offenses. Members of the ELTF are now focusing on proper implementation of the law.

In her remarks, Janine explained, “We want to reduce reliance on school exclusion and keep the Commonwealth’s most vulnerable students in school and learning…The role of attorneys and pro bono engagement of the bar has been and will continue to be crucial with regards to dismantling the school to prison pipeline.”

The annual meeting brought together Boston Bar members, nonprofit leaders, and others to engage in discussions surrounding strategies for disrupting the school-to-prison pipeline. The BBA recently launched a new Service Innovation Project whose pilot initiative is to engage BBA members in helping to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. As such, the BBA’s periodical, The Boston Bar Journal, recently published a special edition focused on the school-to-prison pipeline which includes articles from students, parents, and leading attorneys, including a legal analysis of Chapter 222 from Janine and fellow MAC attorney Liza Hirsch. Click here for the special edition.