| Upcoming DSC Events
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October 23, 2009
SAVE THE DATE!
ABA Summit
Raising our Hands: Creating a National Strategy for Children's Right to Education and Counsel
Co-sponsorship by DSC is anticipated
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Dear Friends,
Thank you to everyone who participated in the first Dignity in Schools Campaign National Conference on June 5-6, 2009 in Chicago, IL. If you missed the conference, you can watch video of the panel presentations and access conference materials on our website. Read more about the conference below.
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| DSC Los Angeles Chapter |
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Help Collect Data on Law Enforcement in Los Angeles Public Schools
 The Los Angeles Chapter of the Dignity in Schools Campaign
(LA-DSC) is seeking your help on a project to collect data
about law enforcement intervention in LAUSD schools. In our
advocacy and organizing work we have found that law enforcement intervention is
frequently used as a response to school disciplinary matters. We need to
document this practice throughout the Los Angeles district in order to effectively push for
a protocol defining when law enforcement intervention is appropriate in school
disciplinary matters.
We are asking advocates who work with youth in Los Angeles to fill out a survey for
LAUSD students who, during the 2008-2009 school year, were accused of school
disciplinary violations and law enforcement intervention resulted. Our goal is to collect twenty surveys from every LAUSD local
district by the end of August.
Take the survey on-line or email Ruth Cusick to receive a copy of the survey in Word format to distribute.
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| First DSC National Conference Held June 5-6, 2009 |
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 A Collective Voice for Dignity in Schools
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 was 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. On our website you can access:
- Videos of the complete Keynote and Plenary Panel presentations from the conference
- Conference materials, including Powerpoint Presentations and handouts from speakers
- On-line photo gallery of the conference
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| New Resources from Around the Web |
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 New Website and Action Kit on Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track
The Advancement Project recently launched StopSchoolsToJails.org, a new website devoted to assisting grassroots efforts to eliminate the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track. The website includes:
- Summaries of successful campaigns around the country to address the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track;
- Model Discipline Policies;
- Model Alternative Programs
- Sample Talking Points; and more!
Research Findings and Video on Restorative Practices
 Two new resources are available on-line from the International Institute for Restorative Practices (IIRP).
The video, The Transformation of West Philadelphia High School: A Story of Hope, documents the vast improvements in climate and
behavior at West Philadelphia High School
after the school began using restorative practices.
The IIRP also released the report, Improving School Climate: Findings from Schools Implementing Restorative Practices. The report presents disciplinary and other data from U.S., Canadian and British schools that have implemented restorative practices.
New Report - Reclaiming Michigan's Throwaway Kids: Students Trapped in the School-to-Prison Pipeline
 This report from the ACLU of Michigan documents a trend amongst school districts to enforce severe
disciplinary policies and practices that push children permanently out
of the classroom without regard for the long-term impact.
The report documents disproportionate disciplinary practices towards African American students, and offers realistic recommendations to combat problem, including amending Michigan's expulsion law and implementing alternatives to suspension and expulsion, including restorative practices.
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About the Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC)
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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.
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:
- Sarah Biehl, Ohio Poverty Law Center
- Matthew Cregor, Southern Poverty Law Center
- Rosa Hirji, Children's Rights
Litigation Committee, American Bar Association
- Anna Lambertson, Advocate, Colorado
- Monica Llorente, Advocate, Chicago, IL
- Liz Sullivan, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative
- Lori
Turner, ACLU of Illinois
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