VIA EMAIL: March 4, 2013 The Honorable Arne Duncan Secretary U.S.

Department of Education 400 Maryland Avenue SW Washington, DC 20202 The Honorable Eric Holder Attorney General U.S. Department of Justice 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW Washington, DC 20530 U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Bldg 400 Maryland Avenue SW Washington, DC 20202 U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights The Wanamaker Building, Suite 515 100 Penn Square East Philadelphia PA. 19107-3323

RE: Amended Civil Rights Complaint to include Racial Discrimination Practices within Public School Residency Laws Dear Secretary Duncan, Office for Civil Rights and Justice Department: We, the undersigned, write to express concern over the criminal prosecution of parents, majority of color, due to school residency laws inhibiting parental choice within the public education system, especially when the public school system fails to ensure the safety and appropriate educational well being of children The Connecticut Parents Union is a member of a national coalition to decriminalize school residency laws. We formed the coalition to address and advocate for the increased number of parents, mostly of color, being arrested and prosecuted for enrolling their children in safe and high quality schools outside of their neighborhoods when safe and high quality school options are not available where they live. The matter of Discrimination, in most cases, Due Process and Equal Protection, as stipulated in the 14th Amendment, requires a review and determination from the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Education, and Department of Justice, as it relates to cases such as Mr. Hamlet and Mrs. Olesia Garcia of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Ms. Kelley Williams-Bolar of Ohio and Ms. Marie Menard of Connecticut, just to name a few parents charged and prosecuted with educational theft. As a result, we request that the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and Justice Department review and respond to this matter concerning three areas of federal law: A. TITLE VI OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT of 1964 (As to Montgomery County School District)

PO Box 3004 - Meriden, Connecticut 06451 Website: www.ctparentsunion.org Tel: 203.443.3203

Rationale: 1. By only instituting criminal charges of educational theft against Mr. and Mrs. Garcia, an Hispanic Family when other similarly situated parents or guardians of children that were non minority were not prosecuted for the same charge, the Montgomery County School District has discriminated against Mr. and Mrs. Garcia's based on their race, color and national origin thus denying them equal protections under the laws. 2. As of 2011, the demographics of Pine Road Elementary School in Montgomery County: Total: 569 students; ZERO (0) American Indian/Alaska Native; SEVEN (7) Hispanic; SEVEN (7) Black/Non Hispanic; Ninety-Five (95) Asian/Pacific Islander and Four Hundred and fifty nine (459) White/Non Hispanic 3. Montgomery County has a predisposition to discriminatory practices. According to 2010 discrimination complaint filed by the Justice Department, Creative Steps had entered into an agreement with the Lower Moreland club to bring 56 day campers to the facility one day a week to swim. The complaint charged that on June 30, 2009, one day after the campers, who were black, used the pool, Valley Club adopted a policy barring summer camps. The Justice Department charged that the clubs new policy was racially motivated. In 2012, the Justice Department announced that a settlement has been reached among all the parties in the race discrimination case against a former Montgomery County swim club. Participants in the agreement reached between the Justice Department and The Valley Club of Huntingdon Valley were the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Creative Steps Inc., a Northeast Philadelphia day camp, and the children who were the victims of the discrimination, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office in Philadelphia. http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_int elligencer_news/settlementannounced-in-swim-club-discrimination-case/article_53736e9a-de1f-5ca3-8533-abe7e76894f9.html

B. EQUAL PROTECTION 42 U. S. C. 1983 (As to Montgomery County School District) Rationale: 1. By only instituting educational theft criminal charges against Mr. and Mrs. Garcia, a Hispanic family, when other similarly situated persons were not prosecuted, the Montgomery County School District has violated Mr. and Mrs. Garcia's right to the equal protection of the laws. 2. By terminating Mr. and Mrs. Garcia right to have their daughter educated in the public schools of Montgomery County, the parents and student have been treated differently than other similarly situated persons, in violation of her right to equal protection of the laws. 3. There is no rational basis for the different treatment accorded to Mr. and Mrs. Garcia as compared with other similarly situated persons.

PO Box 3004 - Meriden, Connecticut 06451 Website: www.ctparentsunion.org Tel: 203.443.3203

4. Therefore, the Garcia's allege that the Montgomery County has engaged in selective enforcement of its rules regarding eligibility for enrollment in Montgomery County Public Schools. C. DUE PROCESS 42 U.S.C. 1983 (As to Montgomery County School District) 1. The Montgomery County School District's conduct of terminating the right of Mr. and Mrs. Garcia's daughter to a free public education in the Montgomery County Public schools was in violation of their right to due process. 2. The Montgomery County School District's proceeded with terminating Mr. and Mrs. Garcia's daughters enrollment in the Montgomery County Public Schools without affording them the required due process of a residency hearing. In closing and on behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Garcia and the many parents affected by the injustice of zipcode education policies, we thank you in advance for reviewing and addressing our concerns, as parents, regarding discriminatory school residency laws and the impact they have on the educational rights of all American children. Furthermore, we thank you for the opportunity to schedule a meeting with you, Secretary Duncan and decision makers of the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights regarding discriminatory school residency policies that use zip codes to determine which children will access safe and quality schools and which children will not.

Sincerely, Gwendolyn Samuel, President Connecticut Parent's Union Kevin P. Chavous, Executive Counsel American Federation for Children Larry Sand, President California Teachers Empowerment Network Mona Davids, President New York City Parents Union Walter L. Hudson Sr., Chairman National Awareness Alliance Senator Gloria Romero, Ret., State Director Democrats for Education Reform-California Kelley Williams- Bolar, President Ohio Parents Union Rhonda Gatch, Co-Founder Moms for School Choice Annette Callahan, Illinois Parent Affected by School Residency Law Matthew Smith, President Philadelphia National Action Network

PO Box 3004 - Meriden, Connecticut 06451 Website: www.ctparentsunion.org Tel: 203.443.3203