Settlement Agreement Between the United States and the Pennsylvania Department of Education

~~“The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of Education (“PDE”) and the United States Department of Justice (“United States”) (collectively, “the Parties”) enter into this settlement agreement (“Agreement”) to resolve the United States’ investigation into complaints involving PDE’s policies and practices related to its approval and general oversight of Alternative Education for Disruptive Youth (“AEDY”) Programs.  The complaints that are relevant to this Agreement allege that PDE’s policies and practices regarding AEDY Programs have led to violations of federal law by Local Educational Agencies (“LEAs”) (1) referring students to AEDY Programs on the basis of disability and denying equal opportunities to access and participate in equal educational experiences, and (2) failing to provide English Learners (“ELs”) in AEDY with appropriate language services.  The United States investigated these allegations under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, 42 U.S.C. § 12131 et seq. (“ADA”) and 28 C.F.R. Part 35, which collectively prohibit discrimination on the basis of disability by public entities, and the Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974, 20 U.S.C. § 1701 et seq. (“EEOA”), which requires, inter alia, that states and school districts take “appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by [their] students in . . . instructional programs.”  20 U.S.C. § 1703(f).”