NEW YORK (AP) — City school counselors and teachers routinely discriminate against pregnant students and teen parents, encouraging them to leave mainstream schools for specialized programs, a civil rights group said Saturday.

Schools designated for pregnant and parenting students are often weaker academically than the mainstream schools, said Donna Lieberman of the New York Civil Liberties Union.

"It's illegal to segregate students because they're pregnant or have a baby," Lieberman said. "It reminds me of the old days when kids who had big bellies just disappeared from school."

She said the specialized schools might be appropriate for some students, but argued that mainstream high schools should "provide the support that pregnant students need and parenting teens need to complete their education."

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Lieberman urged staff training on recognizing the rights of the teens and offering them support, expanded day-care programs at schools, and creation of a central office to help them.

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