Updates

DSC Members Celebrate Victory in Los Angeles
05/20/2013

On Tuesday, May 14, DSC members CADRE, Public Counsel Law Center, Labor/Community Strategy Center, and Children's Defense Fund-California working with the Brothers, Sons, Selves Coalition of Los Angeles on the Every Student Matters Campaign celebrated a groundbreaking victory when the Los Angeles Unified School Board approved a School Climate Bill of Rights that: bans suspensions for willful defiance; calls for stepped up implementation of School-Wide Positive Behavior Support and for the first time Restorative Justice; makes discipline, citation, and school arrest data available to students and parents; and clarifies the role of police in schools.

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Yes To Counselors, Not To Cops
05/13/2013

In Chicago, Project NIA and the Mansfield Institute for Social Justice and Transformation invited parents, educators, students, advocates, and community members to gather on January 24th to discuss their concerns about the White House proposal on January 24th. As a result of this meeting, a coalition of individuals and organizations in Chicago kicked-off their "Yes To Counselors, No To Cops” Campaign to pressure their Senators to oppose any new funding for police officers in schools and to take an affirmative position in support of more counselors and restorative justice programs in schools.

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NY Students Call on City and Mayoral Candidates to End School-to-Prison Pipeline at School Safety and Climate Hearing
04/24/2013

By Sharmin Hossain and Nancy Uddin, Ya Ya Network

The presence of the NYPD, the use of metal detectors, wands, random searches and the practice of calling on school safety officers to resolve conflicts - instead of counselors or teachers, in our schools are what creates a culture of fear and leads to the criminalization of our youth. And this issue is not limited to our schools.

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NYC Students, Educators, Mayoral Candidates and Elected Officials Demand End to Racial Disparities in School Discipline
04/15/2013

On Monday, April 15th, 2013 at 11 AM, New York City Democratic mayoral candidates John Liu, Bill Thompson, leaders from the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and citywide elected officials stood with students, parents and teachers on the steps of New York’s City Hall, to call for an end to racial disparities in school suspensions and arrests. The press conference, brought together by the Dignity in Schools Campaign- NY (DSC-NY), and joined by the citywide coalition New Yorkers for Great Public Schools, called on the next Mayor to end the racial disparities by implementing positive approaches to discipline like Restorative Justice programs, that will keep young people in the classroom and out of the streets and the juvenile justice system.

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