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Elementary Justice Campaign

Stopping the school-to-prison pipeline

Dexter and about 10 kids at Melody
POWER-PAC 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.

The goal of the Elementary Justice 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 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.

POWER-PAC IL is The COFI Way in action.

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 is one of five community organizations selected to partner with CPS to create a more holistic approach to school safety. 82% of Chicago’s police in schools are eliminated and $3.8 million in the CPS budget is reinvested toward alternative supports like Restorative Justice coordinators and social-emotional learning programs.

2020: POWER-PAC IL parents win a victory when CPS and Chicago Police Department (CPD) finalize an agreement laying out new rules for police in Chicago Schools.

2015: POWER-PAC 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 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 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: Parent leaders first present their recommendations to the Chicago Public School (CPS) Board of Education in 2004, resulting in CPS committing to support parents and fund parent-led research.

Three women work together during a community gathering

Recommendations

  • End out-of-school suspensions, except in the case of serious threats to student safety.
  • Reinstate recess and breaks, including more physical education in school day.
  • Implement violence prevention programs and programs based on the philosophy of restorative justice.
  • Provide training on discipline policies to parents, school staff, and administrators and provide information on school discipline policies in a more parent- friendly format.
  • Analyze and address racial disparities in school discipline by requiring school-by-school data release and involving parents in oversight and accountability in creating and reviewing discipline policies.

 

Publications and recent news

    “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.”

    Dexter Leggin

    Former POWER-PAC IL Elementary Justice Campaign Co-Chair

    2245 S. Michigan Ave, Suite 200
    Chicago, IL 60616
    (312) 226-5141
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