Please consider endorsing a statement recently issued by The Advancement Project (a civil rights group) and other organizations, asking Congress for certain changes to NCLB that will help to shut down the School-to-Prison-Pipeline. NAACP and the Juvenile Defense Fund are among the co-authors of this statement.
The authors of the report are looking for organizational and individual endorsements by Jan. 11, 2011.
Here is the full link to the position paper.
http://www.advancementproject.org/sites/default/files/Federal%20Policy%20ESEA%20Reauthorization%20and%20the%20School-to-Prison%20Pipeline%20-%2012%2006%2010.pdf
See also the forwarded email from Advancement Project, as follows.
From the Advancement Project website:
"We are an innovative civil rights law, policy, and communications “action tank” that advances universal opportunity and a just democracy for those left behind in America. We believe that sustainable progress can be made when multiple tools—law, policy analysis, strategic communications, technology, and research— are coordinated with grassroots movements."
"Advancement Project was founded in 1999 in Los Angeles and Washington DC by veteran civil rights lawyers who were looking for new ways to dismantle structural barriers to inclusion, secure racial equity, and expand opportunity for all."
See this webpage for more information about the School-to-Prison Pipeline:
http://www.stopschoolstojails.org/content/issue. Notice the multiple tabs at the top of the webpage. All of the tabs pertain to this issue.
Thank you.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Advancement Project <stopschoolstojails@advancementproject.org>
Date: Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 2:28 PM
Subject: Federal Policy, ESEA Reauthorization, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline
To:
WASHINGTON, DC 1220 L Street, N.W. Suite 850 Washington, DC 20005 202.728.9557 202.728.9558 (fax)
ap@advancementproject.org http://www.advancementproject.org/
Dear friends,
Our six organizations – Advancement Project, Education Law Center – PA, FairTest, Forum for Education and Democracy, Juvenile Law Center, and NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. – have come together to write this position paper, Federal Policy, ESEA Reauthorization, and the School-to-Prison Pipeline. We request that your organization consider endorsing it, which you can do by forwarding your response to stopschoolstojails@advancementproject.org by January 31, 2011.
As explained in the position paper, our organizations view the expanding School–to-Prison Pipeline as an outgrowth of various factors over the past decade, including aspects of the federal No Child Left Behind Act (the current version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, or ESEA). This statement proposes improvements to that law as well as other modifications in federal policy. We will share the paper with members of Congress and the Administration early in 2011, as one important part of our advocacy efforts.
We expect to have many endorsers from the civil rights, education, and juvenile justice communities, and we hope that you will join us in showing our collective support for federal education policies that better address the causes and consequences of the School-to-Prison Pipeline.
Endorsement Instructions:
While all endorsements are welcome, we strongly prefer organizational endorsements. If you work for, volunteer for, or are otherwise involved with an organization that looks to affect these issues, please encourage the organization to endorse this letter. Whenever possible, please sign on as an organization instead of as an individual. Send us the name of the organization and the authorizing person.
Individual endorsements are also welcome. You may include your title (e.g., "Robert Schwarz, Attorney") and/or your affiliation (e.g., "Monty Neill, FairTest"). All individual endorsements will be listed under the following heading: "the following individuals are listed with their affiliations for identification purposes only."
Please send all endorsements to stopschoolstojails@advancementproject.org by January 31, 2011.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact any of us at the addresses below.
We hope that your organization can endorse the position paper, and we look forward to hearing from you at your earliest convenience.
Thank you,
Jim Freeman, Advancement Project, jfreeman@advancementproject.org
Len Rieser, Education Law Center, lrieser@elc-pa.org
Monty Neill, FairTest, monty@fairtest.org
George Wood, Forum for Education and Democracy, george.wood@earthlink.net
Bob Schwartz, Juvenile Law Center, rschwartz@jlc.org
Matt Cregor, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., mcregor@naacpldf.org
