Student Rights in EducationÂ
State vs. Federal Law Topics
What is the difference between federal law, state law, and policy guidance?Â
There are different types of laws and guidance that protect immigrant students and families. Federal laws (and U.S. Supreme Court decisions) and state laws are legally binding, meaning schools must follow them.
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Guidance from state agencies, such as the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), helps schools understand how to apply the law.Â
State
Massachusetts law guarantees every child the right to a public education.
This right comes from the Massachusetts state constitution as affirmed by the Supreme Judicial Court decision that requires the state to provide a public education to every child in every city and town.
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Students are also protected from discrimination in school.
The Massachusetts Student Anti-Discrimination Act protects students from being excluded or discriminated against based on race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, immigration or citizenship status, or disability.
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Massachusetts explicitly protects the right of all students regardless of immigration status or disability to attend public K-12 schools.
In 2025, the Protect Education Equity Act added immigration or citizenship status, and disability to the MA Student Anti-Discrimination Act. This prohibits public schools from excluding or discriminating against students based on their immigration or citizenship status, and disability. This means that if Plyler v. Doe is ever overturned at the federal level, Massachusetts undocumented students would still be protected under state law.
Right to Public Education
Federal
All children, regardless of immigration status, have the right to attend public K-12 schools.
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This right comes from Plyler v. Doe (1982), a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that states cannot deny children a free public education based on immigration status. The decision was based on the Fourteenth Amendment's guarantee of "equal protection of the laws" to everyone, not just citizens.
Language Access
State
In Massachusetts, families have the right to language interpretation and translation at school by trained and qualified school interpreters and translators.
The Protect Education Equity Act requires that if a parent's home language is not English, the school district must ensure interpreters and translators at school meetings are bilingual and trained in specialized school terms and the ethics of interpreting and translation.Â
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State special education law also requires that school districts provide interpretation and translation for all communications to families where the home language is not English.Â
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Massachusetts law invests in multilingual education.
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The 2017 LOOK Act encourages districts to offer English learners a range of language program options, including dual-language and bilingual programs, that build strong skills in English while also valuing and developing students' home languages.Â
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Federal
Every student has the right to access public education, regardless of what language they enter school speaking.
The Supreme Court ruled in Lau v. Nichols (1974) that schools cannot give students with limited English proficiency instruction they can't understand and call it equal education. Districts must take active steps to teach English learner students English while they are learning grade level academic content so they can fully participate in class.
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This requirement is also written into federal law.
The Equal Education Opportunity Act (1974) makes it illegal for a school to deny equal educational opportunity to students based on their race, sex, or national origin. Districts must help students overcome language barriers that get in the way of their participation in class.
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Federal law also requires that schools provide interpreters and translated documents.Â
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Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 requires schools provide parents who speak a language other than English the same information they provide to English speaking parents using translation or interpretation as needed.Â
State
If a family's home language isn't English, the school must provide qualified interpretation and translation.
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Under state special education law, if a parent's home language is not English, the school district must provide a trained, qualified interpreter at school meetings. All special education related documents must also be sent home in the family's home language.
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Special education teams must include a member who has knowledge of the student's English language development as it relates to their disability.Â
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To identify and meet the needs of multilingual learners with disabilities, there must be collaboration between the student's special education educators and English as a second language educators.
Federal
Every student with a disability has the right to an education built around their needs.
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The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) guarantees students with disabilities a free, appropriate public education. This means the specific services and support they need to make meaningful progress, both academically, functionally, and socially. Schools are required to identify students with disabilities in a timely way and any parent or guardian, in any school (public, private, or charter), has the right to request a special education evaluation at no cost. This right also exists under Massachusetts state law.Â
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Many immigrant students require special education evaluations in their primary language.Â
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Schools must conduct special education evaluations in the student's primary language, if required to obtain accurate information regarding what the student knows and can do academically, developmentally and functionally. This requirement also exists under state law in Massachsuetts.Â
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Immigrant Students With Disabilities
Discipline
Federal and State
A student with a disability can't be suspended for 10 or more days, or expelled for behavior connected to that disability.
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Under IDEA, if a student with a disability is suspended, or facing expulsion, for 10 days or more total, the school must hold a Manifestation Determination Review. This is a meeting to determine whether the student's behavior was caused by their disability, or by the school failing to follow the student's IEP.
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If the school team determines that the answer to their of these questions is yes, the student cannot face suspension or expulsion. Instead, the IEP Team must meet to determine what additional supports the student needs to prevent the behavior from happening again. This provision of federal law was incorporated into state law in Massachusetts in 2025 under the Protect Education Equity Act.Â