Combining a summer internship with the Disabilities Rights Project of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia with her own family experience inspired 3L Anette Thomas to devise a cinematic pro bono project.

Thomas' family is home schooling her sister, who has Down's Syndrome.

"Lots of families don't have that option," Thomas said. During her internship, Thomas learned that 24,000 or more children in the Philadelphia school system have been designated as "special needs" students. Federal law spells out rights for students who need — or are deemed in need of — special education.

But very few parents, who also have rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, realize the power they have in determining what — if any — services their child will receive.

"There aren't a lot of opportunities for parents to learn their rights," Thomas said.

So Thomas came up with a plan to produce video modules that teach parents about the rights that they and their children have under the complex federal law. Over the course of the year, she worked with classmates and with PILCOP to develop content for the video modules. The video modules will soon appear on the PILCOP website and Facebook postings.

"It'll be a great resource for families," said Sonja Kerr, who directs the Disabilities Rights Project at PILCOP. "The project would not have happened, had it not been for Anette. She really took the ball and ran with it."

Kerr said parents face two opposing problems in the arena of special education. Some learning-disabled children in cities like Philadelphia desperately need special educational services but do not receive them. At the same time, she said, data collected nationwide show that black children are disproportionately labeled "special needs" students. The IDEA expressly acknowledges this pattern and gives parents the right to decline special education services.

"Convincing parents that they have a legal problem is one of the biggest hurdles," Thomas said. "You actually do have choices. You have the right to pump the brakes or stop the process entirely."

The IDEA also gives parents the right to seek an independent evaluation — paid for by the school — if they disagree with the district's findings concerning their child, Kerr said. "It's a simple right that they don't know they have."

The video modules will offer parents useful information while helping them feel less isolated in their circumstances, Kerr said.

"It will send the message that 'You're not the only parent struggling with this; there's help out there,'" Kerr said.

Calling the project "a really good collaborative relationship between us and Drexel," Kerr said she hopes that still more students from the law school will take an interest in the issue.

"When you think about pro bono projects as attorneys, there's nothing more satisfying than assisting a child," she said. "I am really proud of these students for being the starters of this project and putting it together."