WHAT’S THE ALTERNATIVE TO POLICE IN SCHOOLS?
Restorative Justice.
Restorative justice programs have already proven effective at Chicago Public Schools, but lack the level of funding budgeted for the district’s contract with the Chicago Police Department.
Thousands of Chicagoans have rallied in the past couple weeks behind the demand that Chicago Public Schools end its relationship with the police department.
But a small group of advocates have been working on this issue for years, and they’ve won significant progress in recent months. We don’t know the impact of those changes yet — though we do know that alternatives to police in schools need much greater support.
A new Chicago Police Department policy implemented last August removed so-called school resource officers from involvement in day-to-day disciplinary matters. It requires screening of potential officers, including consideration of their disciplinary records and involvement with youth, and selection in consultation with school principals. It mandates training in youth development, de-escalation, restorative justice, crisis intervention and disability issues.
Those changes were spelled out in a memorandum of agreement between CPS and CPD last December — a move greeted as a “victory” that was “long fought for” by POWER-PAC IL, an organization of parents in low-income communities that has worked for school discipline reform for many years. The new policy and the MOA reflect recommendations by the city’s inspector general and by civil rights advocates, as well as requirements under the federal consent CONTINUE READING: What’s The Alternative To Police In Schools? - PopularResistance.Org
