Project Overview:
Students across the country, particularly students of color, are being systematically derailed from an academic track into the juvenile justice system by draconian disciplinary policies and practices. Students are not only being denied class time during suspensions but they are also being directly fed into the juvenile justice system by school-based arrests for even the most trivial conduct. Further, in same cases, schools use school discipline (e.g., out-of-school suspensions) to dispose of children that they believe are not going to pass standardized tests (thereby bringing down school performance). Since Advancement Project's inception, we have been working to stop this trend and eliminate institutional policies and practices that feed this phenomenon. Advancement Project has worked closely with community organizations in Denver, Chicago and Palm Beach County (FL), and with the Florida State Branches of the NAACP on these issues. We have produced nationally acclaimed research that has provided an organizing tool to communities across the country and have changed the national public debate relating to zero tolerance by pointing to the inequities, unfairness and flaws of such policies. On the local level, with our partners, we have had some success in reforming policies and changing attitudes.
Community Partners
The Ending the Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track Project is a multi-site effort to end the unwarranted criminalization of children by their schools. This project was implemented in partnership with Padres and Jovenes Unidos (Denver, CO), Southwest Youth Collaborative and the Children & Family Justice Center of Northwestern University School of Law (Chicago IL); and Community Alliance for Reform in Education (Palm Beach County FL). Through participatory research (e.g., surveys and interviews), analysis of school discipline data and policies, and effective communication strategies we documented the discipline problem in these school districts and published our findings in a joint report entitled Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track, released in March 2005.
Padres/Jovenes Unidos: With roots in the struggle for educational justice, Padres Unidos has evolved into a multi-issue organization led by people of color fighting for educational equity, student rights and justice for immigrants. Out of these struggles for justice, Jovenes Unidos has emerged. Both Padres and Jovenes Unidos challenge the root cause of discrimination, racism and inequity by exposing the economic, social and institutional basis for injustice as well as developing effective strategies and tactics to change it. Parents and students are empowered to organize, develop new leadership and realize meaningful change.
Southwest Youth Collaborative: The Southwest Youth Collaborative is a community-based network of youth and community development organizations working together in five diverse neighborhoods on the southwest side of Chicago. Their mission is to work with youth between the ages of 5 and 19 from diverse racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds to unleash their potential to become successful and actively contributing members of society.
Children & Family Justice Center of Northwestern University School of Law: The Children and Family Justice Center (CFJC) is a local and national leader in juvenile court reform and in issues and initiatives affecting children and families in crisis. CFJC is a comprehensive children's law center where law students, under the supervision of attorneys and clinical professors, represent young people on matters of delinquency and crime, family violence, school discipline, health and disability, and immigration and asylum. We collaborate with communities and child welfare, educational, mental health and juvenile justice systems to develop fair and effective policies and solutions for reform. They work with neighborhoods, law enforcement, and youth-serving organizations to create community programs that keep children out of the juvenile justice system, reduce confinement and incarceration of children, develop and teach educational programs that inform adolescents of their rights and responsibilities under the law, seek greater protections for children during pre-court police interrogations, improve conditions of confinement for children deprived of their liberty, and challenge the disproportionate presence of children of color in the public justice system
Community Alliance for Reform in Education: The Community Alliance for Reform in Education (C.A.R.E), is an alliance of grassroots organizations, parents, and concerned citizens, whose primary mission is to achieve systemic educational reform that will ensure equitable access to quality education for all students in Palm Beach county's schools.
NAACP Florida State Conference: The mission of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is to ensure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights of all persons and to eliminate racial hatred and racial discrimination. Organized more than 60 years ago, the Florida State Conference of the NAACP has fought long and hard to ensure that the voices of African Americans would be heard.