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- Denver Post Editorial Endorses SB 46 and Padres' work to End the School to Jail Track
- Jovenes Unidos Wins Landmark Discipline Reform for State of Colorado
- Media Coverage: Senate Bill 46 Press Conference at Colorado State Capitol
- North High School Accountability Report Release
- Padres Featured: Legislative Reform for Zero Tolerance Policies
- SB 46, Smarter School Discipline Bill, Passes Colorado Senate
- Save the Date! Padres & Jovenes Unidos 20th Anniversary Celebration
- Teachers, students, parents rally for education funding in Colorado
- We are Hiring! Now accepting applications for Director of Organizing position
End the School to Jail Track in Colorado - Books Not Bars!
THE OVERUSE OF ZERO TOLERANCE - THE PROBLEMS:
Too Many Students are Being Referred to the Police for Minor Offenses
Over the last 10 years, nearly 100,000 students in Colorado have been referred to law enforcement by their schools - that's nearly 10,000 students each year! The vast majority of these referrals are for minor misbehavior incidents that do not threaten school safety and could be dealt without the use of law enforcement. In fact, only 6% of all referrals to law enforcement were for weapons, serious assaults, or other felonies (click here to see a visual breakdown of the incidents).
Students of Color are Most Impacted
Black and Latino students are far more likely to be suspended and referred to law enforcement than White students across the state - click here to see our racial disparities chart.
There are Radically Different Practices Across Districts
Out of the 178 districts in Colorado, nearly half (83) recorded zero referrals to law enforcement, while many others recorded hundreds and even thousands of referrals last year - click here to see the state mapping of this.
Too Many Students are Suspended and Expelled
Last year (2009-2010) in Colorado, more than 60,000 students were given out of school suspensions. In some districts, there was one suspension for every 4 students. Last year (2009-2010), more than 2,000 students statewide were expelled from school (click here to see a visual of the suspension rates by district).
WHO'S MAKING THE MONEY?
The private prison industry is a lucrative business that is profiting millions from incarcerating people. For example, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and the Geo Group (Geo) are the forces behind lobbying efforts to increase penalties that lead to higher incarceration rates at the federal and state levels. Incarceration rates have nearly quadrupled since President Nixon's "War on Drugs" in 1971. Today, the U.S. has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Over 2.5 million people find themselves in prison in this country, including an inordinate number of youth. Disproportionate numbers of African Americans, Latinos, and other people of color comprise the majority of those incarcerated. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a male born in 2001 faces the following odds of going to prison during his lifetime: 1 in 3 for African-Americans; 1 in 6 for Latinos; 1 in 17 for Whites.
Even more disturbingly is the fact that the same zero tolerance strategies used on the streets by the police are also being used in school hallways. In essence, the private prison industry benefits and profits from funneling youth away from school and into the juvenile justice system. We are organizing to raise awareness about "who's making money off of us" and organizing to end the mass incarceration of our community and the School to Jail Track.
TAKE ACTION TO END THE SCHOOL TO JAIL TRACK IN COLORADO!
With the help of community allies, we are now celebrating the passage of SB 133, which will form an interim committee to study the issue of school discipline and provide legislative recommendations for the 2012 sesion. SB 133 puts us one step closer, however, there is much work ahead of us. We must organize to impact decision makers at the Capitol and educate our communities about this crisis in school discipline that is preventing thousands of students from receiving a quality education. We invite you to join our Books Not Bars Coalition. Together, we can build a movement that keeps students on the track to college, not jail and treats all youth with dignity and respect!
CLICK ON THE FOLLOWING LINKS TO DOWNLOAD OUR CAMPAIGN TOOLS WITH MORE INFO:
- First Coalition Meeting Presentation (6/9/11) - Overview of campaign and coalition
- Endorsement packet with all the above info. and data
- List of stories from youth on the impact of zero-tolerance in their schools
- SB 133 fact sheet
- End the School to Jail Track in Colordo Petition - This petition is also on-line, click here to view it
- List of media coverage on our work to End the School to Jail Track in Colorado
- Bibliography of additional materials
For more info, contact: Sarah Brown (sarah@padresunidos.org) at 303-458-6545.
