Stephanie Horwitz

The Project

Stephanie’s project advocates for the rights of students of color with disabilities who face pushout to inferior alternative education settings through direct services, community advocacy, and impact litigation.

Separate and unequal schooling is the reality for too many students of color with disabilities. These students are disproportionately pushed out of traditional schools and into inferior alternative education settings, including continuation high schools and community day schools. Such settings enable the modern-day segregation of American schools, perpetuating a system where high-needs students of color are less likely to graduate and more likely to become involved with the criminal justice system.

Fellowship Plans

During her Fellowship, Stephanie will represent students with disabilities in special education proceedings to ensure equitable placement and service delivery. She will partner with community organizations to provide resource trainings to families and push for systemic reform, and will also seek to collaborate with school districts to strengthen supports for students with disabilities so that they do not face pushout to alternative schools. Furthermore, she will identify districts with a pattern or practice of either illegally pushing students with disabilities to alternative settings or providing deficient special education services within alternative settings, and will challenge these practices through strategic impact litigation.

Media