Uncovers the key civil rights battle that immigrant children fought alongside the ACLU to ensure equal access to education within a xenophobic nation
Journalist Jo Napolitano delves into the landmark case in which the School District of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, was sued for refusing to admit older, non-English speaking refugees and sending them to a high-discipline alternative school. In a legal battle that mirrors that of the Little Rock Nine and Brown v. Board of Education, 6 brave refugee students fought alongside the ACLU and Education Law Center to demand equal access. The School I Deserve illuminates the lack of support immigrant and refugee children face in our public school system and presents a hopeful future where all children can receive an equal education regardless of race, ethnicity, or their country of origin.
One of the students, Khadidja Issa, fled the horrific violence in war-torn Sudan with the hope of a safer life in the United States, where she could enroll in school and eventually become a nurse. Instead, she was turned away by the School District of Lancaster before she was eventually enrolled in one of its alternative schools, a campus run by a for-profit company facing multiple abuse allegations. Napolitano follows Khadidja as she joins the lawsuit as a plaintiff in the Issa v. School District of Lancaster case, a legal battle that took place right before Donald Trump’s presidential election, when immigrants and refugees were maligned on a national stage. The fiery week-long showdown between the ACLU and the school district was ultimately decided by a conservative judge who issued a shocking ruling with historic implications. The School I Deserve brings to light this crucial and underreported case, which paved the way to equal access to education for countless immigrants and refugees to come.
“Napolitano retraces Khadidja’s history with great dexterity . . . Backed by research, profiles, court testimonies, and interviews with teachers, refugees, and immigrant advocates, the book calls into question the vital essence of education and why, even in this modern era of accountability, these injustices persist . . . An eyebrow-raising report on education that is both enraging and heartbreaking.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Laden with compassion and detailed insights into the practices that threaten equal access to education, this is an eye-opening account of a precedent-setting case.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Napolitano’s book should be the next step for people horrified by the plight of refugees, undocumented people, and unaccompanied minors.”
—Booklist
“Meticulously researched and compassionate, The School I Deserve is a fierce defense of refugees’ right to a quality education.”
—Shelf Awareness
“Napolitano’s compelling story of teenage refugees denied the same high school education as their Pennsylvania peers is both heartbreaking and infuriating. It’s an intimate story, and yet Napolitano’s exhaustive research also underscores the consequences of inequality. This book represents a historical moment as important as Brown v. Board of Education, and every democracy-loving American needs to read it.”
—Amy Ellis Nutt, author of Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family
“Napolitano’s The School I Deserve—and the legal case it chronicles—is a clarion call for America to live up to its ideals, as a place that embraces those fleeing hunger and persecution.”
—Alex Kotlowitz, author of An American Summer: Love and Death in Chicago
“Khadidja Issa, a young Sudanese refugee who arrived with her family in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, with aspirations to become a nurse, had to sue her own school district to be admitted because, at eighteen, she was deemed too old to learn there. This little-known story of her titanic and ultimately triumphant battle, along with that of five other teenage refugees, for the education they deserved should be taught alongside the epic struggles of Ruby Bridges and the Little Rock Nine in the civil rights era. No racist mobs blocked Khadidja and her fellow refugees’ access to education, but the callously indifferent practices of her local school district had a similar effect. This book is an important contribution to the ongoing examination of inequality in America.”
—Dale Russakoff, author of The Prize: Who’s in Charge of America’s Schools?
INTRODUCTION
From Colombia to Columbia in Forty Short Years
CHAPTER 1
The Longest Goodbyes
CHAPTER 2
A New World
CHAPTER 3
Beyond the Horses and Buggies
CHAPTER 4
The Uninvited
CHAPTER 5
Handle with Care
CHAPTER 6
Not on My Watch
CHAPTER 7
Big Leagues
CHAPTER 8
Not in Our Names
CHAPTER 9
This Land Is Your Land
CHAPTER 10
UnDACAmented
CHAPTER 11
Opening Arguments
CHAPTER 12
In Their Own Words
CHAPTER 13
Caps and Gowns
CHAPTER 14
Tough Crowd
CHAPTER 15
Disconnected
CHAPTER 16
A Missed Opportunity
CHAPTER 17
Granted
CHAPTER 18
Higher Ground
CHAPTER 19
A Room of Her Own
Acknowledgments
Notes
- “Pamela Broussard/Leading ELLs: Interview with Jo Napolitano. March 23. 2021,” Leading ELLs by Pamela Broussard, interview
- “The School I Deserve,” Northwestern/Medill Alumni Magazine, write-up
- “BAP092 The School I Deserve ft Jo Napolitano,” Boosting Achievement with Carol Salva/voicED Radio Canada, podcast interview
- “Grantee Q&A: Jo Napolitano, The School I Deserve,” Fund for Investigative Journalism, Q&A
- “On the Battle to Reform a Pennsylvania School District’s Xenophobic Enrollment Policies,” Literary Hub, excerpt
- “Book Excerpt: Fleeing War-Torn Sudan to Fight Another Battle in the United States — for the Right to an Education,” The 74 Million, excerpt