Pushed Out: A Forum on School Discipline and Policing in Chicago

Too many students are used to watching situations quickly escalate from classroom disruption to suspension, expulsion and arrest. The U.S. Departments of Education and Justice launched the Supportive School Discipline Initiative in 2011 to call attention to these issues. The initiative emphasized reducing racial and ethnic inequity in school discipline and encouraged alternatives to exclusionary discipline. Schools in Los Angeles, New York and here in Chicago started making changes to their discipline practices and although there has been significant progress, there is still a lot of work to do.

The Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission works to raise awareness of issues like racial equity and school policing because we are committed to seeing all youth safely achieve positive outcomes in their communities and outside of the juvenile justice system. At the end of 2015, the Illinois Juvenile Justice Commission hosted a Cook County forum to discuss how and why young people of color were disproportionately impacted by harsh school discipline practices. In 2016, Illinois adopted new legislation, "SB100" that represented a comprehensive effort to move away from exclusionary, zero-tolerance policies and embrace disciplinary alternatives that are restorative and culturally responsive.  Now that CPS has had a year to implement these new standards, the Commission wants to revisit this discussion with fresh eyes.

Join us for a lively, informed discussion on these issues where we will hear from: 

* Shriver Center staff attorneys Michelle Mbekeani-Wiley and Quinn Rallins on their new report: Handcuffs in Hallways- The State of Policing in Chicago Public Schools;

* A panel of young people who will tell us about their experiences with school discipline in Chicago and how they would define “school safety;” and

* A panel of school resource officers and education professionals on racial equity and their approach to school safety after the implementation of SB100.

We look forward to seeing you there!