Dignity in Schools Campaign. Using State-wide Report Cards to Fight Pushout and Criminalization

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1 Dignity in Schools Campaign Using State-wide Report Cards to Fight Pushout and Criminalization

2 Agenda for Today s Webinar Brief Overview of DSC Presentations on State-wide Report Cards o Padres y Jóvenes Unidos, Denver, Colorado o Racial Justice Now!, Dayton, Ohio Q & A

3 Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) Dignityinschools.org Challenges the systemic problem of school pushout and advocates for the human right of every young person to education and dignity 92 organizations from 24 states Youth and parent base-building Legal and advocacy Teachers and educators Researchers Pictured: Critical Exposure and Advocates for Justice in Education

4 DSC s Work Connections and support for member-led campaigns at the local and state level around school pushout and discipline Collective tools and campaigns, such as: o Model Code (set of recommended policies for schools, districts and states) o Solutions Not Suspensions Initiative (call for a moratorium on out-of-school suspensions) Facilitating leadership of local members to shape federal policy that impacts school pushout

5 Padres & Jóvenes Unidos Colorado School Discipline Report Card padresunidos.org

6 Padres & Jóvenes Unidos Rooted in the struggle for educational justice Multi-issue organization led by people of color Over 20 years of work within Denver communities (Denver Public Schools) Padres & Jóvenes Unidos takes DPS reform to the statewide level, organizing to successfully pass the Smart School Discipline Act (SB 46) 2014 Colorado School Discipline Report Card

7 Smart School Discipline Law SB 46 Zero tolerance policies resulted in unnecessary expulsions and law enforcement referrals. Involvement in criminal justice system should be avoided for minor misconduct. Laws must allow school administrators more discretion in determining disciplinary response School discipline policies must apply equally to all children School districts in Colorado to implement proportionate discipline that reduces the number of out-of- school suspensions, expulsions, and referrals to law enforcement. Districts required to implement appropriate use of prevention strategies, restorative justice, peer mediation, counseling, and other approaches designed to minimize student exposure to the juvenile and criminal justice system.

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9 Statewide Campaign to End the School-to-Jail Track Why PJU decided to release a state-wide report card? It was determined that a report card would be an expedient tactic to use for holding districts accountable to SB 46. No one had ever put this data out there in a way that allowed communities to easily compare districts Strove to create an easily-accessible analysis that would serve a number of purposes: 1. highlight problems that hadn't been given any attention; 2. highlight success stories that we could lift up; 3. keep the issue alive and in the public eye statewide; 4. provide an organizing tool statewide; 5. provide communities with tools to hold their local officials accountable.

10 Statewide Campaign to End the School-to-Jail Track The nuts and bolts of how you put together the report card The report card includes information for 179 districts in the categories of: Out-of-school suspension rate Expulsion rate Referral to law enforcement rate Racial Inequality Index It was important for PJU to strike the balance between: Being thorough, fair, and methodologically defensible; and Creating a tool that would be accessible and useable by communities The final product was an attempt to create something that: Unintimidating Not easily dismissed Would not unnecessarily villainize any district

11 Statewide Campaign to End the School-to-Jail Track The nuts and bolts of how you put together the report card

12 Statewide Campaign to End the School-to-Jail Track The follow up work since the release: Statewide, local and national response and discussions Padres & Jóvenes Unidos present School to Prison Pipeline report Fewer expulsions but huge racial disparities in Denver s discipline numbers Race playing a role in Colorado school discipline, report says Are Colorado schools color blind? Response from people: Response was positive, many districts and community organizations across the state continue to reach out for information and to support PJU s campaign. PJU s statewide campaign has taken off, growing our network while simultaneously working to drive authentic change in school discipline in Colorado Public Schools.

13 Statewide Campaign to End the School-to-Jail Track How it was successful: Tool for Outreach and Public Education Campaign communications Statewide Mailer Social & Print Media Region specific Information Community Engagement Region specific Information Identifying Best Practices and Areas in Need New partnerships and Opportunities PJU as a state and national leader in efforts to end the S2J track

14 Statewide Campaign to End the School-to-Jail Track Challenges that continue, etc. o Organizational capacity building to complete policy scan Compliance with SSDL Comparison of policy to exclusionary discipline and racial disparities o Noncompliance from law enforcement in submitting mandated data regarding contact with students in Colorado Public Schools o Legislative challenges to SSDL Keri Smith Padres & Jóvenes Unidos Statewide Campaign Manager ES2J in Colorado keri@padresunidos.org

15 Racial Justice Now! 2014 Ohio School Discipline Report Card racialjusticenow.org

16 Racial Justice Now! (RJN!) RJN! is a community activist organization dedicated to fighting institutional and systemic racism. RJN! is leading a Solutions Not Suspensions campaign in Dayton, OH. As a result, Dayton Public Schools has made significant changes: Removing all zero-tolerance language from the code of conduct. Adopting a moratorium on all out of school suspensions for pre-school. Shifting disruptive behavior from a Level II offense to a Level I offense for all grades, which cannot result in out of school suspension. Adding restorative justice programs at 7 more schools. RJN is pushing for the moratorium to be extended through K-3rd grade and to be applied statewide.

17 State of Ohio Report Card In October 2014, RJN released a comprehensive School Discipline Report Card for Ohio, the FIRST of it s kind. Evaluates 1067 different school entities including: Public districts Charter schools Joint Vocational Schools Evaluates overly punitive discipline practices and racial disparities.

18 State of Ohio: Overall Grade Preventing the School-to-Prison Pipeline aximum Minimum Median 31.1 Average 34.6 F A+ 56 (5.3%) 0 or less 134 (12.6%)

19 Exclusion Factor (30%) Overall Suspension/ Exclusion Rate Penalty Prek and Kindergarten 1 st Grade 3 rd Grade 7 th 9 th Grade Maximum Minimum Median 36.1 Average 48.5 A+ 4 (6.7%) Less than 0 18 (30.0%)

20 Subjective Discipline Factor (20%) % Disruptive Disobedient Behavior Penalty Use of Tobacco Truancy Maximum Minimum 0 Median 5 Average 18.5 A+ 4 (6.7%) 0 or Less 30 (50.0%)

21 Racial Disparity Factor (50%) Highest rate (Racial Group) Divided by Lowest rate (Racial Group) Maximum Minimum 57.0 Median 0.0 Average 20.7 A+ 1 (1.7%) 0 or Less 38 (63.3%)

22 Data base does not look at programs Limitations Isn t directly tied to graduation and dropout rate Schools received 0 for missing data

23 What to do? Check out your school district Ask questions of your school district Contact legislature To get rid of zero tolerance To ban pre-school through 3 rd grade Expulsions Join organizations working on Mass Incarceration (The Adams Project), School to prison pipeline (Racial Justice Now!)

24 Q & A Any questions or comments for our presenters?

25 Contact Info for Presenters Keri Smith- Padres & Jóvenes Unidos Statewide Campaign Manager ES2J in Colorado Professor Randall and Maria Holt- Racial Justice Now! Natalie Chap- Dignity in Schools Campaign