Hundreds of youth and parents are tired of being pushed out of their schools into the state prison system. The Alliance for Educational Justice (AEJ) is hosting a community education summit to bring the youth and parent’s voice’s into the national debate on public education reform. “I am twenty year’s old and ever since kindergarten I was never given a chance to succeed. There are students like me all over the country who have never had what everyone deserves: a good education. I am fighting so that will never to happen to anyone else in my community”, said Raheem Gladney, youth leader at Youth United for Change and member of the Alliance for Educational Justice.

The Alliance for Educational Justice is an alliance of twenty youth and intergenerational organizations across the country who are fighting for an end to the school to jail track and more funding equity for all school districts across the country. The event is being held in solidarity with the Dignity in Schools coalition’s national week of action. AEJ’s two Philadelphia based community organizations: Youth United for Change and the Philadelphia Student Union have been organizing in the community for over 20 years and work in over 30 schools in Philadelphia. “Students in my community have the solutions to improve our schools because we are the ones experiencing all the problems. It is time that politicians who do not give our community’s solutions a chance understand how this will prevent all of us from making the world better and building a stronger economy.” , said Candace Carter, a student at the Philadelphia Student Union and the Alliance for Educational Justice.

The Community Education Summit will feature testimonies and recommendations from students, parents, and educational advocates across the Pennsylvania communities.  AEJ members will be asking elected officials to put more effort into changing school climates that push students out of school, end all out of school suspensions and expulsions for youth under the age of 10, provide more financial incentives for schools to implement restorative justice practices, and  provide increased accountability for schools that use exclusionary discipline practices like expulsion and suspension for minor offenses.

Federal and state officials have been invited to attend and several officials have agreed to send their representatives.  State Representative Tony Payton Jr. will be in attendance as well as representatives from Senator Casey, Congressman Chaka Fattah, Congressman Joe Sestak, and State Representative Angel Cruz.

Event:                   Southeastern Pennsylvania Education Summit

Date:                     Thursday, October 14^th from 6:30 to 8pm

Location:             Municipal Services Building, 1417 JFK BLVD,

16^th floor, Rooms Y and Z, Philadelphia, PA

For more information, please contact Mustafa Sullivan at 646 996 3760.

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AEJ members took to the airwaves to discuss the School to Prison Pipeline and harsh school discipline policies.  AEJ member organization Philadelphia Student Union collected and aired the interviews via their youth produces radio show On Blast

The Alliance for Educational Justice: Dismantling the School to Prison Pipeline

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Students from across the country are coming together to stand up against the school to prison pipeline and demand positive school discipline policies that address young peoples’ needs.  Instead of zero tolerance policies, students are organizing for the adoption of restorative justice models that promote counseling, mediation and conflict resolution. Leading this fight is the Alliance for Educational Justice (AEJ), a national alliance of youth organizing groups.

Amirah Williams, a Philadelphia Student Union member, recently interviewed AEJ organizer Mustafa Sullivan about the effects of harsh discipline policies and AEJ’s vision for change. This radio piece also features highlights from a national youth speak out that the Alliance for Educational Justice held outside of the U.S. Capitol building this summer.

Restorative Practices: Respecting Students, Transforming Schools

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Harsh disciplinary policies, such as zero tolerance, contribute to the school to prison pipeline by criminalizing students and pushing them out of school. Restorative practices, on the other hand, offer an opportunity to repair & move forward after a problem arises, keeping more students engaged in their education.

For almost a decade, Padres y Jóvenes Unidos (Parents and Youth United) have been working to change the school system in Denver, Colorado by implementing restorative practices instead of zero tolerance policies. The parents and students organizing to make these changes succeeded in winning a new discipline policy for their school district. After a year of this new policy, which guarantees students’ rights, schools have seen dramatic improvements in school climate and a large reduction of violent incidents.

Dan Jones interviewed Lalo Montoya and Brandon Garcia of Padres y Jóvenes Unidos to learn more about their strategies and successes.

AEJ youth leaders Osha Dancy (pictured at the podium) and Maria Degillo (right of the podium) gave acceptance speeches, while AEJ Strategy Team members supported on stage.  Congratulations, AEJ!!

In the coming year, AEJ aims to achieve the following:

Platform Development and Campaigns

• Convene a national gathering of community organizers and core student and parent leaders, from across the country to develop long-term strategies in education justice and youth organizing (September 26th 2009)
• Produce and disseminate an education justice policy agenda with endorsements from at least 30 key allies outside the alliance
• Meet with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to provide young people and youth organizing groups access to federal education policy makers
• Create and begin to implement a shared national campaign with clear local, regional and national articulation

Movement Building

• Produce and disseminate movement-building tools, training materials and resources that strengthen the capacity and leadership of key leaders and education justice groups nationwide
• Build a youth and parent education justice corps, which will engage in broad outreach to build a sizable and engaged constituency for education reform in our communities
• Create and implement a youth development and organizing training infrastructure that supports designated youth leaders in our organizations in developing the skills to lead the work of the alliance

Infrastructure development

• Convene a series of strategic meetings among youth leaders to develop issue areas and goals, provide guidance and feedback on the structure and planning process
• Establish a staffing and governance structure to guide the alliance that successfully engages young people in directing the work of the alliance
• Conduct an analysis of funding landscape and secure funding partners
• Create a process document which clarifies roles and decision-making practices for the alliance

For more information contact, Charles McDonald @ charlesmcdon@gmail.com

AEJ members: Albany Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago * Baltimore Algebra Project * Boston Youth Organizing Project * Brighton Park Neighborhood Council, Chicago * Californians for Justice * Coleman Advocates for Children and Youth, San Francisco * Community Coalition, Los Angeles * Desis Rising Up and Moving, New York * Future of Tomorrow, New York * Inner City Struggle, Los Angles  * Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, Chicago  * Make the Road New York * Mothers on the Move, New York * Padres y Jovenes Unidos, Denver * Philadelphia Student Union * Sistas & Brothas United, New York  * Sunflower Community Action, Wichita * Youth Together, Oakland * Youth United for Change, Philadelphia * Youth Education Alliance, Washington DC

alliance.edjustice@gmail.com

Alliance for Educational Justice
c/o Movement Strategy Center
436 14th Street, 5th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
510-863-4761

2010 Priority Federal Policy areas for AEJ

1. Full access to higher education, financial aid, and a pathway to documentation for undocumented students
2. More federal funding to prepare students for college and careers
3. Academically rigorous and challenging courses and real-world apprenticeships to prepare students for meaningful, living-wage careers and college
4. Alternatives to zero tolerance, suspension, and expulsion and the expansion restorative justice programs that address the emotional, social, and disciplinary needs of students

AEJ Demands for ESEA Re-authorization

The Alliance for Educational Justice has drafted the following policy demands / priorities for the re-authorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, also known as No Child Left Behind.

Top AEJ policy demands for ESEA re-authorization

1.  Increase federal funding and hold states accountable to provide equitable Opportunities to Learn to ensure that all students graduate college- and career-ready.

• Access to high-quality textbooks, technology, and learning material
• The equitable and adequate distribution of highly-qualified teachers
• Universal access to college-prep curriculum in K-12 education and Algebra by eighth grade.
• Alignment of college-prep requirements and high school graduation requirements
• Support for the social and emotional needs of students
• Integration of multi-cultural and multi-lingual practices

2.  Increase federal funding for student support such as community based Student Success Centers.

• Provide federal funding for discretionary grants for schools and districts to establish Student Success Centers with clearly defined standards based on models developed by organizations in New York, Philadelphia, and Oakland that engage youth- and parent-led organizations in providing peer mentoring and support to ensure that students graduate college- and career-ready and can successfully complete higher education.
• Work with student leaders and national organizations that represent school support staff to establish national standards for student-to-support staff ratios (e.g., counselors, nurses, school psychologists/social workers)

3.  Promote student portfolios and senior research projects as a form of student evaluations that go beyond test scores.

• Develop and prioritize high-quality assessments of student learning and achievement that measure critical thinking and college and career readiness, and track student success after graduation.
• Disaggregate and publicize student assessment data based on race, ethnicity, income, gender, and special education status.
• Share assessment results with students and teachers to allow students to learn from their mistakes and develop plans for academic progress.

4.  Ensure equitable and adequate distribution of highly qualified teachers who can provide quality instruction that prepares all students for
college, careers, and democratic participation.

• Provide additional resources and supports for teachers working in disadvantaged schools.
• Develop and fund a National Work Study program to provide trained college student tutors for high-need K-12 schools and create a pipeline to the teaching profession.
• Engage students, parents, and community members in the selection and evaluation of teachers.

5.  Develop a holistic definition of college and career readiness

• Include concepts such as critical thinking, creativity, life skills, and ability to engage in community and democratic institutions.
• Define clear metrics that measure what it means to be career-ready.

6.  Provide Alternatives to zero tolerance

• Provide funding and support for states, districts, and schools to implement positive discipline policies and alternatives to zero tolerance, suspension, and expulsion.
• Adopt restorative justice models that promote counseling, mediation and conflict resolution.
• Expand discipline programs to address the emotional, social, and disciplinary needs of students.

7.  Establish a federal “Office of Meaningful Student and Parent Engagement” based on the Oakland, CA model.

• Review, strengthen, and enforce standards and capacity-building resources for autonomous parent, student and community engagement in the current version of ESEA, the No Child Left Behind act.

Download PDF AEJ 2009 Annual Report