COFI and POWER-PAC IL parents joined Chief of Safety and Security Jadine Chou and the Whole School Safety Steering Committee on May 23 to present a safety plan to the Chicago Board of Education – and it was voted through for public comment! 

The plan emphasizes building physical, emotional, and relational safety for everyone inside school buildings. It’s the culmination of five years of work by the Whole School Safety Steering Committee, which COFI and POWER-PAC IL sit on.  

Parent leaders like Lynn Morton, founding co-chair of POWER-PAC IL, have been leading the fight to change the climate and culture of schools away from criminalization and toward healing and restorative justice since POWER-PAC IL started in 2003. She spoke to the Board of Education about the policy and was quoted by ABC7 Chicago, the Chicago Tribune, and WBEZ. 

Lynn told ABC7 Chicago, “Guns don’t bring relationships. I don’t care who is carrying them, it could be the police or community members, they don’t build that togetherness. Safety happens when you are in relationships.”

The Chicago Tribune quoted Lynn’s speech: “Let’s keep in mind, all of us, that real discipline is about education. It’s about learning. So our dollars should be spent in areas that promote learning and education.”

Here is a clip from WBEZ: