Campaña de Justicia Elemental
Detener el conducto de la escuela a la prisión
POWER-PAC IL parents launched the first citywide campaign in 2004 out of their own experiences with their children in Chicago’s low-income African American and Latino neighborhoods. Children were suspended in schools at an alarming rate; they attended schools where prison-like atmospheres prevailed (at the time, 82% of the students didn’t have recess, and many were not even allowed to talk during lunch). Parents were told their children starting kindergarten were already trailing their white and middle-class counterparts.
el objetivo de la Justicia elemental Campaign is to break the cycle of criminalization of low-income youth of color by eliminating unnecessarily punitive discipline policies and practices in schools.
POWER-PAC IL is El modelo de COFI en acción.
2024: The Chicago Board of Education unanimously votes to expand the Whole School Safety resolution to all schools in the district, following four years of POWER-PAC IL’s work on the Whole School Safety Steering Committee and decades of organizing around alternative approaches to student supports and dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. This decision effectively ends the School Resource Officer (SRO) program in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and creates a district-wide policy on safety.
2021-2022: COFI/POWER-PAC IL es una de las cinco organizaciones comunitarias seleccionadas para asociarse con CPS para crear un enfoque más holístico de la seguridad escolar. Se eliminan 82% de la policía de Chicago en las escuelas y se reinvierten $3.8 millones en el presupuesto de CPS para apoyos alternativos como coordinadores de Justicia Restaurativa y programas de aprendizaje socioemocional.
2020: Los padres de POWER-PAC IL obtienen una victoria cuando CPS y el Departamento de Policía de Chicago (CPD) finalizan un acuerdo que establece nuevas reglas para la policía en las escuelas de Chicago.
2015: POWER-PAC IL wins Senate Bill 100, legislation that marks an important step towards breaking the school-to-prison pipeline in Illinois. The bill eliminates fines and fees for student misconduct, allows students to make up work during a suspension, and provides academic counseling and mental health support services for students suspended 4+ days.
2012-2014: POWER-PAC IL is appointed to the Council of State Government Justice Center’s Discipline Consensus project, informing federal guidelines on school discipline released in 2014 by the U.S. Departments of Education and Justice to reduce racial disparities in school discipline and encourage the use of positive discipline approaches.
2006: The first POWER-PAC IL led changes are made to the CPS Code of Conduct and the first parent-led Peace Center is opened in a public elementary school. In subsequent years, many further Code of Conduct changes are made, including replacing “zero tolerance” with “restorative justice,” reducing suspensions and expulsions, and banning group punishment practices.
2004-2005: Los padres líderes presentan por primera vez sus recomendaciones a la Junta de Educación de las Escuelas Públicas de Chicago (CPS) en 2004, lo que resultó en que CPS se comprometiera a apoyar a los padres y financiar la investigación dirigida por los padres.
Recomendaciones
- Poner fin a las suspensiones fuera de la escuela, excepto en el caso de amenazas graves a la seguridad de los estudiantes.
- Restablecer el recreo y los descansos, incluida más educación física en la jornada escolar.
- Implementar programas de prevención de la violencia y programas basados en la filosofía de la justicia restaurativa.
- Brindar capacitación sobre las políticas de disciplina a los padres, el personal escolar y los administradores y brindar información sobre las políticas de disciplina escolar en un formato más amigable para los padres.
- Analizar y abordar las disparidades raciales en la disciplina escolar al exigir la publicación de datos escuela por escuela e involucrar a los padres en la supervisión y responsabilidad en la creación y revisión de políticas disciplinarias.
Publicaciones y noticias recientes
- “Chicago Public School Board hears proposal for safety plan without school resource officers” – ABC 7 Chicago (May 2024)
- “Board of Education moves to pull school police officers” – Chicago Sun-Times (February 2024)
- “Las escuelas de Chicago comenzaron a retirar a la policía hace dos años. ¿Qué ha pasado desde entonces? – Chalkbeat (agosto de 2022)
- “‘Dads on Duty’ Prove Parent-Led Initiatives are Effective Alternatives to Police in Schools” – Padres (noviembre 2021)
- “¿Los oficiales de policía en las escuelas secundarias de CPS hacen que los estudiantes estén más seguros?” – WTTW (septiembre 2021)
- “Carrera en Chicago: Amplia brecha educativa continúa en la ciudad” – NBC5 Chicago (julio de 2021)
- “Retire a la policía de Chicago de las escuelas de CPS y use esos $33 millones en servicios de salud mental, dicen activistas y líderes electos” – Chicago Tribune (junio de 2020)
- COFI’s Guide to Parent Engagement in SB100 (2016)
- El Informe de Consenso de Disciplina Escolar – Característica del Centro de Paz COFI (2014)
- Informe POWER-PAC: Guía de padre a padre para la justicia restaurativa (en ingles) (2010)
- Stopping the Downward Spiral for Our Children – Redirecting the School-to-Prison Pipeline (2006)
Black and Brown kids … have such a negative thought towards police. If you want to have a different outlook on the police department, a different outlook on students – CPS (Chicago Public Schools) and CPD (Chicago Police Department) have to learn how to build relationships in communities.”
Calzas Dexter
Former POWER-PAC IL Justicia elemental Campaign Co-Chair
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