March 28, 2013 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ms Gwendolyn Samuel Email: info@ctparentsunion.

org Phone: (203) 443-3203

Connecticut Parents Union Support Efforts to Stop the Discriminatory and Criminal Prosecution Against Garcia Family for Providing a Safe and Quality Education for their Child
Coral Gables, Florida - March 27, 2013, The founder of the Connecticut Parents Union (CTPU) and parent leader that successfully introduced a parent empowerment law to Connecticut, Ms. Gwendolyn Eaddy-Samuel, is leading the charge of a national coalition of civil rights activists, education reformers, parents, and community leaders across the country to put an END to unjust educational laws and policies that use zip codes to determine which children will access safe and quality schools and which children will not. Upon learning about the zip code education injustice practices against the Garcia family, by the Pennsylvania Lower Moreland School District, the Connecticut Parents Union (CTPU) demanded that the criminal prosecution against Mr. And Mrs. Hamlet Garcia for "theft of educational services" be dropped. Furthermore, due to the concerns of racial discrimination, unequal protections and due process violations, the Connecticut Parents Union has requested an investigation into the Garcia by the US Department of Education Office of Civil Rights and Department of Justice be conducted. Parents are obligated and have the right to ensure their children are safe and protected. This includes assuring their children have access to safe and high performing schools. Thus we must ALL ensure that every child throughout America has access to safe and high quality schools regardless of where they live stated Gwen Samuel. Since 2011, the Connecticut Parents Union has aggressively engaged in education reform efforts to end unjust zip code education law practices. In April of 2011, CTPU supported Tonya McDowell an alleged Connecticut homeless African American mother. She was arrested and convicted for sending her five year old son to a school outside of her neighborhood. CTPU presented over 20,000 signatures, via change.org, for the support of dropping educational theft criminal charges, against Tonya McDowell, to the Norwalk District attorney prosecuting the case. -MorePO Box 3004 - Meriden, Connecticut 06451 Website: www.ctparentsunion.org Tel: 203.443.3203

In August of 2011, CTPU supported a Stratford Connecticut grandmother, Ms. Marie Menard, arrested for stealing a free education for her grandsons from the Stratford School District. Ms. Menard is a homeowner in the Stratford town that arrested her for educational theft. CTPUs Attorney Josephine Miller filed a civil rights lawsuit against the school district. The case of alleged Due Process and Equal Protection violations will be heard in federal court in July 2013. In October of 2011, CTPU and other education reform advocates supported Ms. Annette Callahan of Illinois. She and her husband who are divorced have joint custody and their child was attending school in the fathers school district. In December of 2012, the Connecticut Parents Union co-hosted a press conference for the Garcia family in conjunction with Pennsylvania State Representative Angel Cruz and other civil rights advocate to ask the Pennsylvania District Attorney to drop Felony criminal charges against the Garcia Family On March 4th of 2013, with the Connecticut Parents Union at the helm, and spurred by the Hamlet Garcia educational theft case, filed a Civil Rights and Department of Justice discrimination complaint against unjust zip code laws. These laws allow for the arrest of parents who exercise their right to choose the best educational option for their children. Parents, education and civil rights advocates across the country, have expressed major concerns over the criminal prosecution of parents, a majority of whom are parents of color. Current school residency/zip code education laws continue to inhibit parental choice within the public education system. Too often parents are held hostage in a public school system that fails to ensure the safety and appropriate educational well-being of children. Due Process and Equal Protection violations, as stipulated in the 14th Amendment, require a review and determination from the Office of Civil Rights, the U.S. Department of Education, and the Department of Justice. We believe Mr. Hamlet and Mrs. Olesia Garcia of Philadelphia Pennsylvania, Ms. Kelley Williams-Bolar of Ohio and Ms. Marie Menard of Connecticut, have been victims of discriminatory practices when they were charged/prosecuted for educational theft. On behalf of Mr. and Mrs. Garcia and the many parents affected by the injustice of zip-code education policies, CTPU will continue the End Unjust Zip Code Education campaign until ALL children have access to safe and high performing school no matter where they live! Furthermore, the Corona Law Firm of Florida should be applauded for having the moral courage to take on the Garcias case and the matter of unjust zip code education laws. ####

-2PO Box 3004 - Meriden, Connecticut 06451 Website: www.ctparentsunion.org Tel: 203.443.3203