PAA is a new member of the Dignity in Schools Campaign and supports the efforts of PAA affiliate Portland Parents Union as they provide leadership for this important event.
On October 23 & October 24, DSC members and allies will convene in New Orleans, Louisana for a two-day national event in partnership with the Communities for Just Schools Fund (CJSF), Families and Friends of Lousiana's Incarcerated Children (FFLIC), Black Man Rising Movement, Community Education Project of New Orleans and #WeChoose Campaign. We will be joined by legislators, parents, and students, with Keynote Speaker David #GodBox Banner.
October 23: National Conversation on Race: Cultural Resistance
The CJSF National Conversations on Race Campaign will engage different local communities across the country to bring together students, parents, educators, and policy leaders in conversations about race, racial disparity and how it shows up in the education system.
CJSF will kick off its National Conversation on Race Campaign in partnership with DSC's National Week of Action Event featuring the theme Cultural Resistance. Cultural Resistance, defined by the DSC Cultural Resistance Peer Exchange Group is: "The use of culture (language/slang, art, symbols, dance, music, clothing, etc.,) to combat oppressive systems. It is a way for a group to define itself on its own terms and to politically resist social control. It is a way of reclaiming our humanity."
October 24: Tribunal on School Discipline and "School Choice"
New Orleans is currently the only city that has a 100% charter school district. Since Katrina, families continue to experience the trauma and gentrification, ethnic cleansing and the horrors of the voucher and charter school experiment that includes an influx of Teach for America teachers, school closings and a major lack of accountability. This continues to leave our already marginalized youth further behind. Schools are breaking laws by not being compliant in completing 504 Plans, IEPs or student evaluations for children who have special needs. Parents continue to be confused or uninformed about their due process as student codes of conduct can differ from school to school or Charter Management Organization (CMO). Children continue to be counseled out or sent to court because schools are ill prepared to support our students.
FFLIC and Black Man Rising in partnership with DSC and other allies will put the New Orleans School System on trial for failing our children.
The #WeChoose Campaign will also further the conversation about the privatization of public education and the illusion of school choice.
We will be demanding that policy makers will sign on to the DSC Members' Platform to create an independent monitor for schools, requiring them to be accountable for ensuring laws and best practices are followed, as well as the utilization of culturally relevant curricula.
