A Collective Voice for Dignity in Schools

Northwestern University School of Law
375 East Chicago Avenue, Chicago, IL


Sponsored by

ACLU Racial Justice Program
Children & Family Justice Center, Northwestern University School of Law
National Economic and Social Rights Initiative, Southern Poverty Law Center
Advancement Project, DLA Piper LLP, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund
National Education Association, ACLU of Illinois, CADRE, Public Counsel, ABA Youth at Risk Commission
ABA Section of Litigation Children's Rights Litigation Committee


Coming Soon!

*Video and audio recordings of the conference panels*

*Next steps for National Action*


On June 5 and 6, 2009, 150 advocates, organizers, youth, parents and educators from 20 states around the country came together in Chicago to discuss positive alternatives to zero-tolerance discipline and school pushout.

The goal of the conference and the ongoing work of the Dignity in Schools Campaign is to reframe the national dialogue on school climate and discipline within a human rights framework and to affirm that the human right to an education includes:

  • the full development of the child;
  • the protection of human dignity;
  • freedom from discrimination; and
  • the right to participation of parents, students, and educators.


At the conference, participants discussed policies and practices that promote dignity in schools, shared successful advocacy, organizing, legal and media strategies being used on the ground, and generated ideas for national mobilization.

The Dignity in Schools Campaign is now working with conference participants to finalize a National Resolution on Ending School Pushout that was drafted at the conference. To participate in the ongoing work to finalize the National Resolution email us.

 

Conference Schedule and Speakers:

Friday, June 5 - 8:30 a.m.to 5:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 6 - 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Welcome:

  • Bernadine Dohrn, Children and Family Justice Center, Bluhm Legal Clinic, Northwestern University School of Law

Keynote Address:

  • Judith Browne-Dianis, Advancement Project

Plenary Panel Presentations:

  • Kabir Ahmed, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM)
  • Nancy Franklin, Coordinator, Behavior Support, Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)
  • John Gardner, Illinois PBIS Network
  • Steve Korr, International Institute for Restorative Practices
  • Judge Brian Huff, Jefferson County Family Court
  • Joyce Parker, Co-Founder, Citizens for a Better Greenville, Mississippi
  • Rodney Skager, Professor Emeritus, UCLA Graduate School of Education
  • Jack Wuest, Alternative Schools Network, Chicago
  • Saneta deVuono-Powell, Schools for All Campaign, ACLU of Northern California Racial Justice Program
  • Marco Nuñez, Padres & Jovenes Unidos
  • Julie Washington, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA)

View the complete Conference Program

 

Special thanks to the Ford Foundation

For more information contact us

The Dignity in Schools Campaign is a national coalition of advocates, community-based organizations, educators, lawyers and policymakers working together to seek human rights-based solutions to the systemic problem of pushout in U.S. schools.