Mayoral Candidate John Liu, UFT President Michael Mulgrew, Elected Officials and Students Demand End to Racial Disparities in School Suspensions and Arrests

 

Amid Growing Outrage Against Mayor Bloomberg’s Heavy-Handed“Zero Tolerance” Discipline Policies, Students Call on Next Mayor to Implement Positive Alternatives

 

11a.m. Monday, April 15, 2013, Steps of City Hall, Manhattan

 

WHO: *LIST STILL IN FORMATION* Democratic Candidate for Mayor, John Liu; UFT President, Michael Mulgrew; Elected officials, including Chair of the City Council Education Committee Robert Jackson; Councilmember Daniel Dromm; Students; Parents; Teachers; Community Leaders.

WHAT: Prior to a major hearing on School Climate and Safety, Democratic mayoral candidate John Liu, UFT President, Michael Mulgrew and elected officials will stand with students to speak out and call for an end to racial disparities in school suspensions and arrests. Advocates from the Dignity in Schools Campaign-NY, along with the citywide coalition New Yorkers for Great Public Schools, will urge the Department of Education to continue to reduce the number of suspensions, and fully fund and implement positive school-wide approaches to discipline, like restorative justice programs, that improve safety, reduce conflict and increase learning.  

WHERE: Steps of City Hall in Manhattan

 

WHEN: April 15, 11 a.m.

The Dignity in Schools Campaign-New York is a coalition of students, parents, educators, civil rights, students’ rights and community organizations that challenges the systemic problem of pushout in our nation's schools and advocates for the right of every child to a quality education and to be treated with dignity.

The Dignity in Schools Campaign-New York consists of the following organizations: Advocates for Children of New York, Brooklyn Movement Center, Center for Community Alternatives, Children’s Defense Fund-New York, Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, Coalition for Gender Equity in Schools, Desis Rising Up and Moving (DRUM), Future of Tomorrow, Make the Road New York, Mass Transit Street Theater, National Economic and Social Rights Initiative (NESRI), New Settlement Apartments Parent Action Committee, Pumphouse Projects, Sistas and Brothas United, Teachers Unite, Urban Youth Collaborative (UYC),Yaya Network, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Youth on the Move, and Youth Represent.