As legal counsel and director of policy for the North Carolina School Boards Association (NCSBA), Allison Brown Schafer (’83) likes to joke with her executive director that she has not had one boring day in the almost 16 years that she has been at her job.
“Every day there are new issues in working with the 116 local school boards that are members of the organization,” she said.
As the daughter of two teachers, Schafer approaches her work with a sense of mission.
“There’s an unwarranted negative attitude about public education,” she said. “Public education is the backbone of this society. Not every school is perfect. Not every kid is successful. However, as a whole, public education is what has made this country great and still provides an opportunity for all children to have a chance to succeed.”
Schafer was elected chairman of the National School Boards Association National Council for School Board Attorneys early this year, which gives her a visible platform from which to advocate for public schools. The National Council has more than 3,000 members from across the county, who are practicing school attorneys dedicated to improving the practice of school law by educating and supporting its members and advocating for legal, legislative and regulatory changes at the national level.
Schafer’s daily work supports public education in North Carolina and across the country in many ways. Her responsibilities include providing legal training to school board members, administrators and attorneys; writing friend of the court (amicus) briefs in important school law cases; and participating in litigation on behalf of the NCSBA and members districts. She also assists the association’s lobbyists in reviewing and drafting proposed legislation, helping to make the state’s education laws more fair, clear and helpful, including for the teachers and students.
Her experiences at Wake Forest Law gave her excellent preparation for a career that has been spent in education law. She even met her husband, John Schafer (‘84), now an administration law judge, there.
Schafer grew up in the U.S. Virgin islands, then later moved to Chicago. She majored in sociology and anthropology at Knox College in Galesburg, Ill., before coming to Wake Forest. She was in France for junior year abroad, then worked in France a year before attending law school.
While abroad she took a friend’s advice and applied to Wake Forest Law.
“A career in law was something that would allow me to help people,” she said, “and that was really important to me.”
She was accepted while abroad and first saw the campus when she showed up for classes. She remembers being impressed by the friendliness of the people.
“Everyone said, ‘Hey,’ as you passed them on the sidewalk. That doesn’t happen in other parts of this country or in other countries,” she said.
During her second year of law school, she served as a teaching assistant to Professor Wilson Parker, who was new to the law school . Parker’s employment law and constitutional law classes would prove helpful in Schafer’s work with public schools.
“He was an idealistic, great guy,” she said. “He encouraged us to go out and do great things.”
Parker said that he was thrilled to find such capable law students as Schafer at Wake Forest Law. “It comes as no surprise to me that Allison has emerged as one of the national leaders in her field,” he said. “From the beginning, she displayed the intelligence, creativity and willingness to do whatever it takes to get the job done, that are the attributes of a first-rate lawyer.”
Schafer’s election to the chairmanship of the National Council of School Attorneys is a measure of the professional respect she has earned among her peers. Parker has talked with Schafer about returning to the law school to teach a seminar on education law when her tenure as chairman of the National Council is over.
“The law school is actively developing more courses that emphasize experiential learning,” Parker said. “Allison is the model of someone who could explore the connection between theory and practice with our students.”
Bridging theory and practice has often put Schafer on the front lines of the state’s efforts to improve its education system. Much of her work these days involves being something of a teacher herself. She finds training school board members about topics such as open meetings laws, privacy, public records laws and student discipline issues very rewarding.
“It’s constitutional law. It’s what’s on the front page of the newspaper every day,” she said. “I love teaching adults who really need to know and want to know the information. They are very engaged and appreciative.”
Several years ago she was involved in the litigation challenging mandatory eye exams for all kindergarten students. Over 80 school districts joined with the NCSBA to challenge the constitutionality of the law, which was unconstitutional in that it would have kept children out of school without any valid reason. That litigation resulted in a repeal of the requirement.
A few years ago, Schafer worked to rewrite the state’s student discipline laws with other advocacy organizations representing children, teachers and school administrators. Her goal was to see that the rules were transparent and easily understood by students, parents and school administrators.
Her organization recently filed a brief in a case before the N.C. Supreme Court about the obligation of the state to fund programs for at-risk 4 year olds.
Schafer is passionate about public education.
“Education is a civil right in this country,” she states emphatically. “A vibrant democracy requires a population that is educated and participates. More than that, in a just and fair society all children should have an opportunity to achieve their dreams. Education is the key to success and must be supported.”