Criminal Justice

In the fight for educational justice, the struggle to keep public schools public has become as critical as ending the school-to-jail track. In Los Angeles, two historic Black high schools, Crenshaw HS and Dorsey HS, face daunting "reconstitution" that will undermine community leadership and roots. On Jan 12, we will gather with grassroots organizers from Chicago, New Orleans and Philadelphia to explore what forces are driving school privatization and how they intersect with forces behind the school-to-jail track.

By sending 600 armed LAPD patrols into our children’s schools, let us be clear that we are responding to violence with violence. Before we fall headlong down this path, we hope that LAUSD will reconsider and reflect deeply on the teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: 'The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy…. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.'

We had a great rally to set the tone for the new school year. We urged LAUSD to adopt a more comprehensive plan to protect youth from discriminatory ticketing and overpolicing. There had been some solid progress earlier in the summer in our meetings with LASPD and LAUSD. But with students coming back to school, we need the District to take more concrete steps forward.

Black columnists speak out about the increasingly obvious correlation between racial politics and school discipline. The issue of truancy tickets and harsh school polices has grown into a national educational crisis.