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I'm an education lawyer, with experience representing parents, students and community organizations concerned with improving their schools. I'm also co-director of the Education Law Center-PA, a nonprofit, public interest advocacy organization. (You can find out more at www.elc-pa.org, though I hasten to add that this blog contains only my views and does not necessarily represent those of ELC.)

As I see it, schools can be (though too often aren't) places where students and teachers will want to spend their time. I believe that learning is naturally exciting -- and that if we can create the conditions where that excitement can be felt, a lot of other things (such as test scores) will tend to take care of themselves. Of course, I also know that this is an oversimplification -- but one has to start somewhere, and that's where I start.

I hope to use this blog to talk about ways in which education laws can contribute to creating better schools for all children -- and especially for those (poor kids, kids with disabilities, English language learners, and lots of others) who still, in the 21st century in the most advantaged country on the planet, face shockingly poor educational opportunities.