October 1-8: National Week of Action on School Pushout
Throughout the week of October 1-8, 2011, thousands of parents, youth, and educators took part in student-led actions and events in 29 cities to expose the school pushout crisis in our nation and advocate for the human right of every young person to a quality education and to be treated with dignity. The events and actions included street theater, public forums, rallies, restorative justice trainings, and more.
The Dignity in Schools Campaign’s National Week of Action brings together organizations and individuals from 13 states to call for an end to zero tolerance policies, for the implementation of positive approaches to discipline, like restorative justice practices and positive behavior supports instead of relying solely on suspensions and expulsions, and for the passage of federal legislation that promotes positive school climates.
- Download the DSC National Week of Action Platform in English and/or in Spanish.
- Download the DSC Factsheets on School Pushout here.
Find a Week of Action event near you:
Join the Dignity in Schools Campaign on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to recieve updates about the 2011 Week of Action.
Week of Action Videos:
- Week of Action on School Pushout 2011 PSA
- Video of DSC-NY rally and march
- Video of Nollie Jenkins Family Center phone banking
- Virtual Rally for School Discipline: Los Angeles, CA, Part 1
- Virtual Rally for School Discipline: Los Angeles, CA, Part 2
- Video of "100 Days of Colorado Stories" Padres y Jovenes Unidos: Denver, CO
Week of Action Media Coverage:
- Minority Students Face Harsher Punishments, Report Shows Huffington Post, 10/5/11
- National report highlights punitive suspensions of minority students, which are on the rise in Baltimore The Baltimore Sun, 10/5/11
- Treme Center to Host Forum on School Discipline Policies Tonight By Andrew Vanacore, The Times-Picayune, 10/04/11
- New York's Pushout Crisis: Why Students Don't Graduate By Emily Shaw, Liz Sullivan and Refat Shoshi Chowdhury, Gotham Gazette, 09/27/11
Photos from Week of Action Events
- Black Organizing Project (BOP) in Oakland, CA
- COFI/Power-Pac in Chicago, IL
- Padres y Jovenes Unidos - Denver, CO
- "Speak Out!" Virtual Rally - Los Angeles, CA
- Community Roundtable - McComb, MS
- "Forgiveness" a Community Conversation - Lawrenceville, GA
Join the Dignity in Schools Campaign on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to recieve updates about the 2011 Week of Action.
Organizations participating in the National Week of Action include:
Access Living, ACLU of Eastern Missouri, ACLU of Pennsylvania, ACLU of Southern California, Action Communication and Education Reform, Activists With A Purpose, Advocates for Children of New York, Advocates for Children's Services (a project of Legal Aid of North Carolina), Advocates for Justice and Education, Atlanta Community Engagement Team (ACET), Black Organizing Project, Blocks Together, Boston Parent Organizing Network (BPON), Boston Student Advisory Council, Boston-area Youth Organizing Project, Center for Community Alternatives, Children’s Defense Fund – California, Children's Defense Fund - New York, Citizens for a Better Greenville, COFI, Community Asset Development Re-defining Education (CADRE), Community Rights Campaign of the Labor/Community Strategy Center, Concerned Citizens for a Better Tunica County, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), Dignity in Schools – NY, DSC-Los Angeles, Education Not Incarceration, Families and Friends of Louisiana's Incarcerated Children (FFLIC), Fannie Lou Hamer Center for Change, Freedom House, Future of Tomorrow, Generation Y, Girls for Gender Equity, Gwinnett STOPP, Interfaith Children's Movement, Juvenile Justice Project of Louisiana (JJPL), Kids Rethink New Orleans Schools, Lambda Legal's Southern Regional Office, Make the Road New York, Mass Transit Street Theatre, Morehouse Chapter of the NAACP, MS Coalition for the Prevention of Schoolhouse to Jailhouse, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), New Settlement Apartments Parent Action Committee, New York Civil Liberties Union (NYCLU), Nollie Jenkins Family Center, Padres y Jovenes Unidos, Parents Organized to Win, Educate and Renew - Policy Action Council (POWER-PAC), Portland Parent Union, Power U Center for Social Change, Public Counsel, Safe Schools Healthy Students - New Orleans Recovery District, Sistas and Brothas United, SNAPPS, Sunflower County Parents and Students Organization, Teachers Unite, The Commutation Project, Urban Youth Collaborative (UYC), West Town Leadership United (WTLU), Women of God's Design Ministry, Young Adults Striving for Success (YASS), Young People's Project - Greater Boston, Youth Innovation Movement Solutions, Youth Justice Coalition, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Youth on Board, Youth on the Move, YWCA of the Greater Triangle.
