Fact Sheet
Abstract:
Jovenes Unidos found that youth of color in Denver are being pushed into jail cells instead of being put behind school desks. Nationwide, youth of color are targeted for more and harsher discipline than their white counterparts. Colorado students proposed solutions to their school boards and city council, including changing city policy, changing district policy, creating alternative disciple measures and a community oversight board.
Author:
Publication Date:
Source: Denver, CO: Padres Unidos
Contact Info: Pam MartinezPadres Unidos pam_martinez@hotmail.com (303) 458-6545
Full Text:
Education not Incarceration!
"They invest more in jails than in our
education. A student makes one mistake,
and it follows the student wherever he goes."
Juan, Jovenes Unidos
Based on Jovenes' research for the Education on Lockdown report and recommendations to end the school to jail track in Denver, Padres & Jovenes and Denver Public Schools (DPS) have jointly developed an alternative restorative justice discipline model for the entire district. The program is being piloted in three North High feeder middle schools and at Montbello. Padres & Jovenes and District (with assistance from the Advancement Project) have rewritten DPS discipline code to end racial disparities in discipline. The DPS board will review the new policies and procedures in May 2007.
Goals and Objectives
Goal: End the racial disparities and harsh and punitive disciplinary codes of Denver Public Schools that track low-income students of color from schools to jail by creating alternative disciplinary programs, radically lowering issuance of police tickets, and building supportive school cultures.
Objectives:
Establish restorative justice-based prevention and intervention programs in every middle and high school in Denver Public Schools by 2008-2009.
Rewrite the Intergovernmental Agreement between Denver Public Schools and the Denver Police Department to reduce the number of tickets and arrests for minor incidents issued at schools by 60%.
Gain Denver Public Schools Board approval of revised discipline code and policy by May 2007.
Create rubric to evaluate pilot restorative justice program in northwest Denver.
Jovenes members share their findings and solutions with Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet.
You can also read:
"Education on Lockdown: The Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track", the report issued in spring 2004 by the Advancement Project, Padres and Jovenes Unidos, Gen Y, and CARE.
Education not Incarceration Presentation Materials used by Jovenes Unidos to present their findings to the community:
The Denver Schoolhouse to Jailhouse Track
Tickets issued in DPS by Charge, 2004-05
Tickets issued in DPS by Charge, 2003-04
Increase in Tickets issued in DPS, 2000-2004
Tickets issued in DPS, 2003-04, by race
Number of Suspensions for Students in Colorado, 2004-05
Out-of-School Suspensions in DPS by Race, 2004-05
Cost of incarceration vs. education
URL: http://www.padresunidos.org/eni
Notes:
Related Names: Padres Unidos| Jovenes Unidos
Contact Info: Pam MartinezPadres Unidos pam_martinez@hotmail.com (303) 458-6545
