New Jersey has settled a lawsuit over its new graduation rules by ensuring options and protections for this year’s seniors.
The settlement agreement doesn’t change the graduation requirements that the state announced in 2014 and 2015. But since those changes have not been made final in the state administrative code, the settlement serves as official clarification of the requirements for the graduating classes of 2016 and beyond.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the Education Law Center filed suit against the state education department last year because the state changed its graduation rules for the classes of 2016 through 2019 in a series of memorandums sent to districts, without providing public notice and time to comment, as state law requires.
