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Pages tagged "education justice"


AMOS Conflict Resolution Program Highlighted in Axios

Posted on News by West/Southwest IAF · April 05, 2022 11:57 AM

As Des Moines Public Schools shifts disciplinary policy, Axios contrasts the new discipline rules to the “Let’s Talk” conflict resolution strategy that A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS) designed and successfully implemented in Des Moines Middle Schools 8 years ago.

[Excerpts]

The rules [assigning students involved in fights to virtual learning] are likely to take more students out of classrooms and increase disciplinary disparities among students of color, says Cheryl Hayes, a juvenile justice reform advocate with A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy (AMOS), a network of metro churches and community groups that runs a mediation program in the district….

Community volunteers [from AMOS] launched the Let's Talk program in three district middle schools eight years ago with one key objective: fix a system that disproportionately disciplines students of color, Hayes, who's also a coordinator for the program, tells Axios.

The district has since expanded the program to nearly all of its 12 middle schools...

Let's Talk is run by AMOS, a network of dozens of metro churches, neighborhood groups and community organizations.

The program helps students resolve conflicts peacefully, and ultimately aims to disrupt the "school-to-prison pipeline" — the link between punishments and the criminal justice system.

Inspiration for the restorative justice program came from "The New Jim Crow," a book about the U.S. legal system and how it has led to the mass incarceration of Black men, Hayes says.

What they do: Volunteer mediators, such as retired judges, go into schools to help resolve student conflicts or other disciplinary issues through discussion.

Oftentimes, mediators help students work through home-life traumas that are a factor in problems surfacing at school, Hayes says.

Program facilitators also assist with cultural awareness training among district educators to help improve teaching and disciplinary practices.

What they're saying: Hayes says organizers believe Let's Talk is a factor in why disciplinary referrals — generally those involving assaults or weapons — were down in grades 6-8 during the first four months of this school year [as reported by Axios, February 2022].

[Photo credit: Let's Talk via Axios]

Reducing Violence in Des Moines Public Schools, Axios [pdf]


Albuquerque Leaders Fight to Save Scholarship Fund

Posted on News by West / Southwest IAF · October 22, 2013 5:41 PM
When Albuquerque Interfaith leaders learned that a lottery-funded scholarship program was in danger of going broke, they rallied to save the fund -- reaching out to parents, concerned congregation members and State Senator Jerry Ortiz y Pino. Parent leaders testified about the importance of the scholarship for students in state colleges; state legislators noted that the late notification prevented them from voting to channel money away from tax cuts for businesses and into long-term investments like college.

Parents Rally Around Lottery Scholarship, Albuquerque Journal

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NAIC Tells Republican Secretary of State: Invest in AZ Schools

Posted on News by West / Southwest IAF · May 03, 2013 3:03 PM
"Three-hundred Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Dewey-Humboldt residents told Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett that Arizona must start adequately funding education during a meeting Tuesday at Abia Judd Elementary School in Prescott.

'Over the last five years, cuts in funding have been imposed by the state in addition to the cuts from declining enrollments,' said Wendy Madsen, a parent of a student at Taylor Hicks Elementary School in Prescott. 'Our districts together have been forced to cut over $25 million.'"

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EPISO & Border Interfaith Challenge School Board and City Council Candidates

Posted on News by West / Southwest IAF · April 29, 2013 11:13 AM
Accountability session hosted by EPISO and Border Interfaith"More than 600 people turned out on Sunday to hear more than 30 city and school board candidates speak at a joint forum put on by the El Paso Inter-religious Sponsoring Organization and Border Interfaith."

City Council candidates were challenged to invest in workforce development program Project ARRIBA, and complete quality of life and neighborhood infrastructure projects within the already established 7-year time frame. Because El Paso public schools mandate standardized testing at least once (and sometimes twice) per week, school board candidates were challenged to reduce the number of standardized tests by 50%. Candidates were also asked to commit to a more equitable way of funding the arts than simply asking parents of participating students to shoulder the cost.

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