Even though federal law mandates that schools offer interpreters and other services to overcome language gaps — both for schoolkids and their parents — families report they regularly come across barriers.
Maria Benevento
Maria Benevento is The Beacon’s education reporter. She joined The Beacon as a Report for America corps member. In addition to her work at The Beacon, she’s reported for the National Catholic Reporter, Columbia Missourian and St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Her education reporting began in 2017, and she became a full-time Kansas City education reporter with The Beacon in mid-2021. She graduated from Creighton University in 2015 with a bachelor’s degree in theology and American studies. In 2021, she graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a master's degree in journalism. She’s lived in Missouri most of her life and first moved to Kansas City in 2017.
Posted inEducation
A Black parent’s guide: How to help protect your kids from racism at school
Solomon Desta was working one day last May when he got a call that three of his son’s white classmates at Olathe South High School had handed him a piece of metal with the N-word carved into it. Desta was angry. “It was a Friday around 3 p.m. and they were trying to tell me […]
Posted inEducation, LEA EN ESPAÑOL
Los estudiantes sin vivienda tienen derechos. Esto es lo que merece recibir de su distrito escolar.
Traducido por Christy Moreno, Revolución Educativa Los estudiantes que no tienen un lugar estable donde vivir se enfrentan a un dilema: Completar el high school es fundamental para escapar de la inseguridad de la vivienda, pero la inestabilidad de no tener vivienda puede interrumpir su educación. La ley federal tiene como objetivo proteger los derechos […]
Posted inEducation, LEA EN ESPAÑOL
¿No habla inglés? La escuela de su hijo debe comunicarse con usted en un idioma que usted comprenda
Traducido por Christy Moreno, Revolución Educativa Boletas de calificaciones, conferencias de padres y maestros, guías y manuales, formularios de autorización. Si los padres y cuidadores no hablan el mismo idioma que los profesores y el personal de la escuela, las comunicaciones escolares rutinarias se vuelven más complejas. Pero el idioma no debe convertirse en un obstáculo […]
Posted inEducation, LEA EN ESPAÑOL
Conozca sus derechos: Los estudiantes indocumentados pueden asistir a las escuelas públicas K-12
Traducido por Christy Moreno, Revolución Educativa En los Estados Unidos, el derecho a la educación pública K-12 no depende del estatus migratorio. Los estudiantes indocumentados pueden inscribirse en sus escuelas públicas locales después de que una decisión del Tribunal Supremo en 1982 anulara una ley de Texas. Eso quiere decir que las escuelas no deben poner […]
Posted inEducation
Know your rights: Your child’s school must communicate in a language you understand
Report cards, parent-teacher conferences, handbooks, permission slips. If parents and guardians don’t speak the same languages as their child’s teachers and staff, those routine school communications get more complex. But language shouldn’t become a barrier to families understanding nuances of their children’s education. Guidelines from the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights as […]
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Know your rights: Undocumented students can attend K-12 public schools
Undocumented students can enroll in their local public schools after a 1982 Supreme Court decision overturned a Texas law. That means schools shouldn’t put up barriers to undocumented or other immigrant students enrolling.
Posted inEducation
Know your rights: Your child’s school must communicate in a language you understand
Here are key things to know about what parents or guardians whose primary language is not English are entitled to regarding their child’s education.
Posted inEducation
Unhoused students have rights. Here’s what you deserve from your school district.
Federal law aims to protect students’ right to a free public education even if they lack adequate or consistent housing. The McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act ensures that those students are able to enroll in school, aren’t forced to frequently change schools, and receive necessary resources for learning.
Posted inEducation
Children not enrolled in school yet? Here’s where to get help
Some districts — like Raytown and Center — list deadlines to ensure students will have a spot on a school bus during the first weeks of school or that they’ll be ready to attend on day one.