History
Janeen Steel grew up in Los Angeles. In 1981 at the age of 18 she graduated from Hollywood High adult school, but still felt disconnected from learning and over the 6 years after high school Ms. Steel lived a life of self-destruction. Then she hit bottom, sick and living with friends – she knew life had to change.
Ms. Steel wanted to be a writer, but others had a difficult time understanding her writing. She enrolled in a local community college where an observant teacher recognized her difficulties and recommended she be tested for learning disabilities. Ms. Steel was tested and the learning disability was found. This was the turning point, and over the next few years found her intellect and also found a deep commitment to education for all students. She felt that the only way to assist others was to become a lawyer.
In 1996, Ms. Steel was admitted to UCLA Law School, which changed her life. During her time at UCLA she learned that she was truly lucky. She realized that most students with learning disabilities from low-income families don’t get to law school. She found out that many spend time in jail. In fact, 70% of incarcerated youth have some disability and one-third of students with learning disabilities are arrested within 3 years of high school. She was truly lucky to have escaped that fate and she decided to take action to address these statistics.
In 1998, as a 2nd year law student at UCLA, Ms. Steel received the UCLA La Raza Alumni Association Cesar Chavez Summer Fellowship to write the Learning Rights Manual. This self-advocacy guide for parents of K-12 students with learning disabilities is designed to help them navigate the special education system.
In 1999, Ms. Steel received the Echoing Green Fellowship for social entrepreneurs to start the Learning Rights Project. Learning Rights’ mission was to help students with learning disabilities and learning difficulties achieve their dreams. She started in a small office in Hollywood in September of 1999 and Learning Rights grew quickly.
In April of 2000, Learning Rights Project joined the Western Law Center for Disability Rights. Ms. Steel was the first and only Project employee for 3 years. Through Ms. Steel’s leadership and tenacious advocacy, the Learning Rights Project grew to include a staff of 4 attorneys/advocates and 1 staff administrator. The Project represented the educational needs of children with learning difficulties, learning disabilities, ADD/ADHD, physical disabilities and emotional disabilities living in South Central Los Angeles and other at-risk areas, and children involved with the juvenile justice system.
During this time the Learning Rights Project was involved with several landmark cases including the class action lawsuit of Doe 2 v. San Bernadino, challenging the failure of juvenile halls to accommodate detainee’s disabilities; a U.S. Office of Civil Rights class complaint against Los Angeles Unified School District (“LAUSD”) for their failure to translate critical education documents for monolingual Spanish parents; and a class complaint to the California Department of Education regarding the inappropriate placement of youth in group homes at on-grounds non-public schools. In addition, Steel integrated a high school in Los Angeles with three wheelchair-bound students. Two of those students graduated in the summer of 2005.
In 2003, Ms. Steel met Ines Kuperschmit, a recipient of the prestigious Skadden Fellowship to work at Public Counsel and represent special needs youth involved in the dependency and delinquency system. Through the fellowship, Kuperschmit worked with the only full-time Juvenile Mental Health Court in the country, and advocated for the education and mental health rights of youth detained in Los Angeles County juvenile halls. Subsequently, as a staff attorney at Public Counsel, Kuperschmit continued to advocate for the mental health and disability rights of court-involved youth, expanding her representation to children in group homes and foster youth with severe developmental disabilities.
Ms. Kuperschmit and Ms. Steel co-counseled in a critically important due process hearing against San Bernadino County Schools and Banning Unified School District for failing to provide special education services while a student was in juvenile hall and in a group home. This hearing was the cornerstone of a class action lawsuit against San Bernadino County and it paved the way for a momentous settlement, which has already improved conditions and accommodations at juvenile halls. After prevailing on this hearing, Steel and Kuperschmit started working together on other progressive projects, including advocating for a student with severe mental health issues, and designing a clinic program for law students that includes outreach in juvenile court – both for probation families and foster families.
The unprecedented growth of the Learning Rights Project over 5 years and its cross-collaboration with other juvenile justice organizations and attorneys led to a re-organization of the project in 2005 and the birth of the Learning Rights Law Center, an independent non-profit organization whose sole mission is the rights of students. The need to expand and to address a broader range of education issues became clear as systemic education issues emerged through independent client advocacy.
Other than Learning Rights, currently there is no legal rights organization dedicated exclusively to education issues. Given the profound failure of California schools — particularly in Los Angeles County — to provide meaningful educational benefit to students with disabilities, difficulties, and those who are poor or represent racial minorities, it is a long time coming for legal advocates to rally around this issue as a primary priority.
