Partners for Dignity & Rights is excited to announce the release of our new report, Community Schools & Co-governance: Lessons from Los Angeles and San Diego. In the report we look at community schools as powerful examples of co-governance, where community and government work together to develop and implement policy.

Read & download the full report here!

Community schools are public schools that include collaborative leadership and active family and community engagement while working to expand learning opportunities and wraparound services for their students. In both LA and San Diego, the community schools initiatives have centered collaborative decision-making between multiple stakeholders, including the district, teachers, students, families, administrators and local community grassroots organizations, jettisoning the traditional top-down approach to decision making, and using the on-the-ground resources and knowledge of the entire community to strengthen their schools.

The results are schools that authentically respond to their individual community’s needs, holistically supporting students and parents, while also providing an outstanding education. Now, more than ever, as we watch the erosion of education as a public good — with the expansion of charter schools and school vouchers, and the potential shuttering of the Department of Education — we need models like community schools that strengthen public schools.