Dignity in Schools Campaign members have been fighting for years to end the criminalization of students and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. As the movement to #DefundPolice grows across the country, join us in supporting youth, parents, educators and advocates in the fight for #PoliceFreeSchools.
Support DSC Member Campaigns:
CA – Black Organizing Project, Oakland – For over a decade Black Organizing Project has fought to remove police from Oakland schools. You can read their People’s Plan for Police Free Schools and support their demands to pass the George Floyd Resolution to Eliminate the Oakland School Police Department at the upcoming June 24th School Board meeting! Sign their petition and support their week of action:
CA – Coleman Advocates, San Francisco – Check out their infographic Pushed Out, Gentrified Out, Locked Up: A Story of Black Students in San Francisco and support their Juneteenth Rally and March to demand police get out of #SFUSD schools and the city reinvests in a #peoplesbudget prioritizing community needs.
CA – Youth Justice Coalition, Labor Community Strategy Center, CADRE and others, Los Angeles – On June 16th, DSC members and #StudentsDeserve marched to Defund LAUSD School Police. Read this LA Times article on the decade long movement to defund police in Los Angeles schools. Check out Youth Justice Coalition’s #Abolish12 Free L.A. from Police and Prisons: Action Resource Kit 2020 and read the latest posts from Labor Community Strategy Center on defunding $67 million from the Los Angeles School Police.
CO – Padres y Jóvenes Unidos, Denver – On June 11, the Denver Public Schools Board passed a resolution to end their contract with Denver Police; the culmination of years of organizing by Padres y Jovenes Unidos. They will continue organizing to ensure that funds are redirected to increasing support staff and restorative justice in the district.
DC – Black Swan Academy, Advocates for Justice in Education, Washington, DC – Black Swan Academy has launched their demands calling for the removal of all forms of police from D.C. schools, including DC police officers and security officers contracted through the Metropolitan Police Department, and investment in mental health programs, social-emotional learning and transformative justice. Sign their petition!
IL – COFI/POWER-PAC, Chicago – On June 16th COFI/POWER-PAC parents joined VOYCE, other allies and Aldermen Roderick Sawyer and Jeanette Taylor to announce an ordinance to end Chicago Public Schools’ contract with the Chicago Police Department and reinvest the $33 million they are using to fund police in schools to support students. Check out this article.
MD – Racial Justice NOW! DMV, Montgomery County – Racial Justice NOW! is calling on the Montgomery County Public Schools to remove police from schools and invest in community intervention workers and culturally responsive approaches. Support their campaign by calling and tweeting at MCPS!
MN – Midwest Center for School Transformation, Twin Cities Innovation Alliance, MN Parent Union, Minneapolis and St Paul – After years of organizing by DSC members, on June 2nd the Minneapolis School Board voted to end their contract with the Minneapolis Police Department. Youth and parents are now demanding data and accountability to expose the violence students have faced from police and SROs, to demand reparations and to make sure police are not replaced with surveillance technology that further criminalizes students. Watch this webinar with the Twin Cities Innovation Alliance on lessons from Minneapolis. On June 23, the St. Paul School Board will consider action on the district’s contract with police.
NY – Dignity in Schools Campaign-NY, New York City – DSC-NY is demanding the removal of all police and school safety officers from NYC public schools and the reinvestment of the $451 million NYPD School Safety Division budget into restorative jutice and the hiring of counselors, social workers and other support staff. Read statements from youth, parent and educator members here.
NC – Education Justice Alliance, Raleigh – On June 16th Education Justice Alliance and Youth Justice Project held a community conversation to get police out of Wake County Public Schools. You can watch a video of the conversation here.
OR – Portland Parent Union and Parents Across America, Portland – On June 4th, the Portland Public Schools Superintendent and Mayor ended their contract with Portland police. For several years Portland Parent Union has worked with youth and parent ally organizations to call for Counselors Not Cops. Read about their work over several years that helped lead to the win. They are now working to ensure that parents and youth decide how funds for school police are redirected.
PA – One Pennsylvania, Education Rights Network and ACLU-PA – Education Rights Network, One PA, ACLU and other local and national organizations are calling on Pittsburgh Public Schools to remove all school police and invest in restorative and transformative justice. Sign their petition here and testify at the upcoming June 22nd School Board Meeting where the Board will vote on whether to remove police.
WI – Freedom Inc, Madison – Freedom, Inc has launched a campaign to remove police from Madison Public Schools. Read their open letter to School Board President, Gloria Reyes, who has committed to form a committee on the topic. Freedom Inc youth will continue organizing to remove all police from Madison Schools, and painted Police Free Schools outside the Madison School District Administration Building!
Email us at info@dignityinschools.org to add information about your campaign!
