“For me it’s personal. It’s a safety issue…10 years ago I had a student that was suspended and he was killed. I want you here…because it’s hard to speak at the children’s funerals.” – Tiffany Tillman, Melody Elementary School Principal
POWER-PAC’s impactful work to reduce school violence and stop the use of punitive school discipline, like out-of-school suspensions, is working! Our parent-initiated model of school-based peace centers is now featured in a new video recently released by the City of Chicago – Mayor’s Commission for a Safer Chicago. Check out the video below and hear the powerful stories of students, principals, teachers, and parents alike that have been transformed by this work.
As part of the Elementary Justice: Redirecting the School-to-Prison Pipeline Campaign, POWER-PAC parent leaders have been organizing for the past decade to increase funding and policy supports for more school-based restorative justice practices, and they are winning change. Just this year, with funds secured from the Chicago Police Department, Chicago Public Schools, the Cook County President’s Office and the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission, COFI and POWER-PAC are expanding Parent Peace Centers to a total of seven Chicago public schools and training more than 150 parents across the city in restorative justice practices.
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