Partners for Dignity & Rights works with youth, parents, educators and advocates to transform our public school systems to end school pushout and create learning environments that protect the human right to dignity and support the full academic, social and emotional development of every child. We support national and local coalitions—led by the youth and parents most impacted by school pushout—to end punitive discipline and policing in schools and implement restorative and culturally relevant approaches to education.

At the national level, we anchor the Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC), a coalition of over 100 organizations across 27 states working to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. DSC fights against systemic racial discrimination and all forms of oppression in our schools that push out students of color, students with disabilities, LGBTQ+ students, immigrant students and students from other marginalized communities. DSC members across the country have won campaigns to limit school suspensions, expulsions and policing in schools, to increase investment in counselors, social workers, peacebuilders and trauma-informed services for students, and to implement restorative justice practices and culturally relevant curriculum.

At the local level, we anchor the Dignity in Schools Campaign-New York Chapter (DSC-NY), made up of more than 20 organizations across the five boroughs in New York City. As a result of the work of DSC-NY and our allies over the past decade, suspensions have decreased by more than 50% in New York City public schools and in 2019 we won a historic victory when New York City—the largest school district in the country—committed to implementing restorative justice practices citywide. DSC-NY works to support effective and participatory implementation of restorative justice and to end policing and criminalization in New York City schools.

For more information, check out:

• The Dignity in Schools Campaign website
• Dignity in Schools Campaign-NYC website