Securing Educational Equity for California's Students

Throughout the nation, vulnerable student populations are facing policies and practices that make it more difficult for them to attend school, let alone receive an education. In California, the most recent high school graduation rates show that our state is failing to provide a high school diploma to an alarming number of children, particularly African American and Latino students.

Schools for All Campaign: Preventing Bias and Pushout

In recent years, the ACLU-NC has received an increasing number of complaints from students who are experiencing harassment, disparate discipline, and abuse at school.

Although some of this unfair treatment of students is based on race or ethnicity, complaints may come from students who are targeted because they are LGBTQ students, English learners, students with disabilities, students in foster care and pregnant or parenting students.  As these vulnerable student populations in California are subjected to heightened levels of bias, harassment and discrimination, they become more likely to feel alienated and dropout.

In Fall 2008, the ACLU-NC launched the Schools for All Campaign, a multidisciplinary campaign aimed at ensuring that all children attend schools that are inclusive, respectful, and welcoming.

In November 2008, the campaign released their first reporting detailing the bias and pushout phenomena in California schools. See, "Schools for All: The Bias and Pushout Problem" for more information.

The Schools for All Campaign is dedicated to keeping students in comprehensive schools that are supportive, safe and equitable. Our youth deserve schools that cultivate environments where every child is treated with dignity and respect.

Learn More

• Schools For All: The Bias and Pushout Problem
  
  
• Overturning School Expulsions
  
  
• Safeguarding Equal Educational Opportunity in Modesto
  
  
• Setting New Policies for Racial Profiling in Fairfield Schools
  
  
• Ending Anti-Gay Harassment on Campus

Ending the School to Prison Pipeline

High dropout rates can be partially attributed to the emerging "school to prison pipeline." This term is used to describe the escalation of disproportionate a disciplinary procedures that lead students of color out of school and into the criminal justice system. Studies have shown that a student who leaves school without a high school diploma is more likely to end up in the criminal justice system than his/her peers.

The ACLU-NC is working on many fronts to derail this phenomenon.

Learn More

• What is the School to Prison Pipeline?
  
  
• School to Prison Pipeline Factsheet (.pdf)
  
  
• Read More from the ACLU