Uncovers the key civil rights battle that immigrant children fought alongside the ACLU to ensure equal access to education within a xenophobic nation 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.

Table of Contents:
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