National Week of Action on School Pushout:
September 29 - October 6, 2012

The 3rd Annual National Week of Action on School Pushout took place during the week of September 29 to October 6, 2012. This year's theme was "Pushout Rates Are Scary: Over 3 Million Students Are Suspended Out-of-School Each Year."

Throughout the week, thousands of parents, students, educators and education advocates took part in parent and student-led actions and events around the country to expose the school pushout crisis and advocate for the human right of every young person to a quality education and to be treated with dignity.

This year's Week of Action followed the launch of the Solutions Not Suspensions initiative, a call for a moratorium on out-of-school suspensions, which we launched with the Opportunity to Learn Campaign at a press conference in Los Angeles, CA on August 21, 2012.

The Week of Action kicked off on Saturday with a zombie flash mob and rally (click on links for videos) led by Blocks Together and Access Living's Advanced Youth Leadership Power in Chicago, IL, and a parent training on alternative discipline in Valdosta, GA, led by Gwinnett SToPP.

On Saturday in Mississippi the Fannie Lou Hamer Center for Change facilitated a parent and youth workshop in Eupora, and Southern Echo and the MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable hosted “Support Students, Not Suspend Them” a community discussion and legislative forum in Greenville. In New Jersey, Paterson Education Fund held a student-led march and rally at the steps of the Federal Building in Paterson and the Statewide Education Organizing Committee held a rally in Jersey City.

Gwinnett SToPP, ACLU of GA, and Softer Touch held "A Haunted Education", a museum walk and rally at the Lawrenceville Historic Square in Lawrenceville, GA. That same day, in New Orleans, Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) hosted a screening of the documentary “What Will It Take to Stop the School to Prison Pipeline?” and a meeting where parents, students, community activists and stakeholders discussed the pushout crisis in Louisiana. The Dignity in Schools Campaign Los Angeles Chapter (DSC-LA) also held the first of three workshops during the Week of Action, this one a human rights training and a discussion on the moratorium on out-of-school suspensions.

Power U Center for Social Change of Miami, Florida held a rally to call for an end to out-of-school suspensions and in California, DSC-LA hosted a forum on school pushout and an introduction to the DSC Model Code in the San Fernando Valley. Also on Thursday, the Boston Student Advisory Council/Youth on Board hosted a Listening Project at four different train stations in Boston, MA where youth leaders interviewed hundreds of students about their experiences with school discipline. In Detroit, Michigan, students at Osborn High School together with the ACLU of Michigan launched the “Grads not Inmates” campaign with a rally.

Chicago-based parent-led community organization POWER-PAC held their first quarterly membership meeting of the school year to locally launch the Model Code and call for a moratorium on out-of-school suspensions. In New York, over 200 students, parents, teachers and community members joined DSC New York for a candlelight vigil and march across the Brooklyn Bridge carrying life-size cut outs of students, representing the 260 students suspended every day in New York City public schools. Throughout the Week of Action, the NYCLU also distributed over 3,000 Know Your Rights cards to students at ten different NYC public schools.

On the final Saturday, Portland Parent Union held a Restorative Listening Dialogue to share experiences about suspensions among students, parents and school principals, and discuss restorative practices as an alternative. DSC-LA hosted Health Happens in Schools, a forum on creating positive school environments, parent participation in schools, and academic success.

In Raleigh, NC multicultural youth organization NC H.E.A.T. held a march from Washington GT Magnet Elementary School to Central Prison to raise awareness about the school to prison pipeline and policies that lead to school pushout. Meanwhile, in Delavan, WI, during the Community Justice Network for Youth (CJNY) Midwest Regional Conference, the DSC and Blocks Together facilitated a workshop titled "Solutions Not Suspensions" to discuss the school to prison pipeline problem and walk through the DSC Model Code as a solution.

Although the 2012 Week of Action is now officially over, you can continue to raise awareness and take action to end school pushout in your community!

Share Alternatives to Suspension with Members of Your Community

News Coverage of the 2012 National Week of Action on School Pushout

10/10/12 - Makers and Takers: Obama, justice and Carolyn King's Legacy By Bob Geary, Opinion Column, IndyWeek (Raleigh, NC)

10/09/12 - Piden Freno a Expulsiones de Estudiantes Hispanos y Negros en Escuelas Publicas By David Ramirez, Huffington Post (New York, NY)

10/08/12 - Discipline in Schools By Julie Sabatier, Oregon Public Broadcasting (Portland, OR)

10/07/12 - Triangle Students Speak Out About Suspensions Against Minorities News 14 Carolina (Raleigh, NC)

10/06/12 - Video: Jóvenes Abandonan Escuelas por Racismo (Spanish) By Hispan TV (Miami, FL)

10/06/12 - Video: Student Activists Call for High School Discipline Reform By Progress Illinois (Chicago, IL)

10/04/12 - Rally to Protest High Number of Suspensions in City Schools By Mary Frost, Brooklyn Daily Eagle (New York, NY)

10/04/12 - Miami Students Rally Against Suspensions By Laura Isensee, Miami Herald (Miami, FL)

10/04/12 - Student Suspensions Increased 47-Percent at Paterson Schools By Joe Malinconico, Paterson Press (Paterson, NJ)

10/04/12 - Students, Parents, Advocates March for “Solutions Not Suspensions” By Andrea Watson, Austin Talks (Chicago, IL)

10/03/12 - Push for Alternatives By Cari Hachmann, The Portland Observer (Portland, OR)

10/02/12 - Portland Parents Union Holds ‘Restorative Listening Dialog’ on School Push-out The Skanner News (Portland, OR)

10/02/12 - Another Kind of Climate Change By Nirvi Shah, Education Week

10/01/12 - Student Activists Call for High School Discipline Reform By Brandon Campbell, Progress Illinois (Chicago, IL)

09/28/12 - Activists Concerned About School Suspensions Plan a Series of Events By Vanessa Romo, Southern California Public Radio (Los Angeles, CA)