We would like to welcome our new members to the Dignity in Schools Campaign listserv! Since the launch of our website this month we have received requests from groups around the country to get involved with the campaign. Thank you to everyone who helped make the website possible.

Please help us spread the word about our growing campaign! We encourage you to link to www.dignityinschools.org from your website. We can also add your website to our links page. Contact info@dignityinschools.org.

May 29 at 9am PST, 11am Central, and 12pm EST
The call will last 90 minutes

To RSVP and obtain call-in information contact Rosa Hirji at Rosa Hirji.

For the first part of the call, we will present and discuss a strategy for promoting federal leadership for alternatives to zero tolerance.

A staff person from Representative Hare’s office will join us to give an update on the Positive Behavior for Effective Schools Act before Congress.

The PBIS Network Illinois will present their strategy and toolkit for garnering supporting for this bill in their state and suggest how others can replicate their work.

The Working Group will also map out the work that is being done across the country to support Positive Behavior Intervention and Support (PBIS) policies in order to strategize how the DSC will best support these efforts.

Please let us know if you are involved in an active campaign to support PBIS at the local, state or national level. Contact Rosa Hirji.

Support Immigrant Safe Zones in NYC Schools

On our May 15 Working Group call we heard from youth organizers at DRUM (Desis Rising Up and Moving), a youth organization in New York City, about their campaign to create Immigrant Safe Zones in schools. Visit their website at www.drumnation.org to endorse their campaign.

Stay tuned for details on our next national tele-conference call to be held in June - "How Immigration Issues in Schools Affect Pushout"

UN Special Rapporteur on Racism Visits the U.S.

The UN Special Rapporteur will visit Washington, New York, Chicago, Omaha, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami and Puerto Rico between May 18 and June 6 to examine issues of racism and racial discrimination in this country.

New Resources Available On-Line

• Article on Six NYC Schools with Positive Models for Safety
  "Life without Lockdown: Do Peaceful Schools Require High-Profile Policing?," Voices in Urban Education.

• Human Rights Treaty Recognizing Right to Education for Students with Disabilities
  The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities entered into force on May 3, 2008.

• Report on Reducing Dropout in Mississippi through PBIS
  "Effective Discipline for Student Success: Reducing Teacher and Student Dropout Rates in Mississippi," Mississippi Youth Justice Project, Southern Poverty Law Center.

• Resource for Educators on Classroom Management and PBIS
  "The ABCs of Classroom Management" with resources on how to build classroom communities where students are engaged in positive ways from Tolerance.org.

• Know Your Rights in Washington State
  The ACLU of Washington has Know Your Rights materials for youth and parents.

Please send us articles, reports, websites, on-line videos, tool-kits and other resources to add to the website. Email research@dignityinschools.org.

June 2 at 12pm PST, 1pm Central and 3pm EST

To RSVP contact Monica Llorente

Help us plan a national conference on pushout and human rights to be held in Chicago in Spring 2009. We are looking for volunteers to join the planning committee and help bring organizers, advocates, parents, youth, educators and policy-makers together to share local successes and strategize for national action.

Visit the website to learn about membership and get involved in the campaign. The DSC has a Core Group that oversees the project, Working Group Members that help shape our work and participate in our ongoing projects, and Allied Organizations that believe in and support the campaign.

Core Group Members:

Rosa Hirji, Chair of Education Subcommittee, Children’s Rights Litigation Committee, American Bar Association
Monica Llorente, Children & Family Justice Center, Northwestern School of Law
Rodney Skager, Professor Emeritus, UCLA Graduate School of Education & Information Studies
Liz Sullivan, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
Lori Turner, ACLU of Illinois

The Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) challenges the systemic problem of pushout in our nation's schools and advocates for every child’s human right to education and to be treated with dignity.  The DSC unites policy advocates, parent and student organizers, educators and lawyers in a campaign to promote local and national alternatives to a culture of zero-tolerance, punishment and removal.