Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel & Director of Education Policy for At-Risk Students

Lara S. Kaufmann is Senior Counsel and Director for Education Policy for At-Risk Students.  She works on the advancement of women and girls at school and in the workplace. Lara engages in litigation, advocacy, and public education, with a particular focus on improving educational outcomes for at-risk girls, including pregnant and parenting students. Lara co-authored the Center’s 2012 report, A Pregnancy Test for Schools: The Impact of Education Laws on Pregnant and Parenting Students, as well as its 2009 report, Listening to Latinas: Barriers to High School Graduation. Before joining the Center, Lara was a Staff Attorney with the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, and prior to that she was an Assistant United States Attorney in Chicago. Lara also worked with the law firm of McDermott, Will & Emery, and was law clerk to then-Chief Judge Marvin Aspen of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Lara is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Northwestern University School of Law.

Expert in: Pregnant & Parenting Students, School Reform & Dropout Prevention, Sexual Harassment & Bullying, Education & Title IX
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My Take

We Need to Help Boys AND Girls of Color Succeed

Posted by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel & Director of Education Policy for At-Risk Students | Posted on: September 16, 2013 at 02:26 pm

Ever since the Trayvon Martin shooting, people across the country have engaged in an important dialogue about the challenges faced by African American boys and young men in this country, and rightly so. A focus on – and substantial investment in – the success of males of color in this country is critical and long overdue.

But as the National Women’s Law Center has said time and again, there has been very little attention to the barriers to education that girls and young women of color face, which should not be underestimated in terms of their gravity or their impact. I saw only one piece after the verdict, the Washington Post’s ‘Bolster’ black boys, but don’t forget about black girls (and quoting President Obama’s remarks) pointing out that the important focus on African American boys does not have to be at the exclusion of African American girls, who face very real – but sometimes different – obstacles in education, the juvenile justice system, and beyond.

That’s why I was so excited to read this excellent interview with Dr. Monique Morris conducted by New American Media and shared by the National Opportunity to Learn Campaign with the headline “Are Girls Invisible in the Movement for Boys and Men of Color?”.

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Tags: Dropout Rate and Prevention, Education and Schools, School Reform & Dropout Prevention, Education & Title IX | Add new comment

Students Should Come First; Save Bipartisan Bickering for Another Day

Posted by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel & Director of Education Policy for At-Risk Students | Posted on: July 10, 2013 at 11:29 am

Because Congress did not act by July 1, subsidized student loan interest rates doubled from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent. And student debt in the United States already totals $1.1 trillion, more than credit card debt. 

Today, the Senate will vote on the Keep Student Loans Affordable Act, which would bring the interest rate back down to 3.4 percent for one more year while Congress can consider a long-term solution. The alternative proposal would be more permanent, but would tie the student loan interest rate to the market, with no cap. That may reduce the deficit, but on the backs of needy students!

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Tags: Senate, Student Loans, Education & Title IX, Poverty & Income Support | Add new comment

NWLC Supports New School Reform Bill and Urges Senate Committee to Strengthen It

Posted by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel & Director of Education Policy for At-Risk Students | Posted on: June 10, 2013 at 04:37 pm

Last week, Senator Tom Harkin, Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, introduced the Strengthening America’s Schools Act of 2013, a bill to reauthorize (fancy word for “update and fix”) the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), also known as No Child Left Behind.

The “mark-up” of the bill—when the HELP Committee votes on amendments and hopefully sends the bill to the full Senate—starts tomorrow.

The National Women’s Law Center supports http://www.nwlc.org/resource/letter-help-committee-support-strengthening-americas-schools-act this bill, and urges the Senate HELP Committee to further strengthen it during tomorrow’s mark-up.

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Tags: Child Care & Early Learning, Early Learning, Education and Schools, Pregnant and Parenting Students, Senate, Title IX, Pregnant & Parenting Students, School Reform & Dropout Prevention, Education & Title IX | Add new comment

The Jet Story

Posted by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel & Director of Education Policy for At-Risk Students | Posted on: June 05, 2013 at 12:16 pm

“This is a jet. It is a tin jet. The tin jet is big.”

I know, it sounds pretty boring, right? But to me, these are VERY exciting words. These are words that my son just started reading. On his own. My son, who is 5 years old and has not been to kindergarten yet (he will start in the fall), is now reading and loving it. And I love watching his unbridled joy as he figures out, all by himself, what the words on the page say.

Now, I cannot taking credit for teaching him how to read (who has time?), and I am not saying he’s a child prodigy. Sure, we have been reading to him since he was a baby, but what makes all the difference is that he went to preschool.

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Tags: Child Care, Child Care & Early Learning, Early Learning, Prekindergarten, President Obama & Obama Administration, Strong Start for Children, Strong Start for Children Campaign, Prekindergarten | Add new comment

Seriously??? Teen Mom’s Photo Excluded from Yearbook

Posted by Lara S. Kaufmann, Senior Counsel & Director of Education Policy for At-Risk Students | Posted on: May 03, 2013 at 04:06 pm

Just when I thought I had seen it all, and right on the heels of our announcement two days ago of a great Title IX pregnancy discrimination settlement with the City University of New York, my colleague forwards me this article and video from HuffPo. Apparently last summer a North Carolina high school allowed its rising seniors to pose for senior photos with props that represented their achievements, who they are, what they like, etc. Some students posed with footballs, some even posed with their family pets, and teen mom Caitlin Tiller posed with her baby. Touchingly, Caitlin explains that her son “helped me get to where I am today.” She said that after giving birth she started to work harder in school – she even graduated early, began college classes in January and got a part-time job working 30 hours a week. She added: “I wouldn’t be the person I am today without him.”

Still, a month ago school officials told Caitlin that they would not print the photo of her with her baby. They said the baby should not be pictured because he is not “school related.” Boy, would I love to hear them explain how a family pet is “school related.”

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Tags: Education and Schools, Pregnant and Parenting Students, Title IX, Pregnant & Parenting Students, Education & Title IX | Add new comment