From Education Injustice to Education Justice

 What is Education Justice?

Education Justice is a healthy educational environment that supports a culturally responsive and safe learning experience that is uplifted by the community.

The California education system has more than six million students and is diverse. However, it is affected by educational disparities that particularly impact students of color, low-income families, and LGBTQIA+ students. Additionally, more than one million of these students are located in the Central Valley.

Achieving Education Justice in California requires a comprehensive and systemic approach that addresses the root causes of educational disparities. In order to tackle these concerns, it is necessary to follow these actions:

• End Policing of Schools: Instead of police on campuses, we need positive support systems, intervention workers, and culturally responsive practices to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. 
• Implement Restorative Justice Practices: Schools must prioritize restorative justice practices that focus on repairing harm and building positive relationships rather than punitive approaches that often lead to disparities in exclusionary discipline.
• Implement Culturally Responsive Teaching: Teachers must be trained to incorporate culturally responsive teaching practices that recognize and respect all students’ cultural/racial backgrounds and experiences.
• Confront Racism in Schools: This includes adopting anti-racist policies, training educators on implicit bias, and creating a curriculum that reflects marginalized communities’ diverse histories and experiences. By actively combatting systemic racism, we can foster a safe, inclusive learning environment for all students.
• Protect LGBTQIA+ Students: Schools should protect LGBTQ students from discrimination and bullying by implementing inclusive anti-bullying policies, providing resources for LGBTQ students, promoting a culture of acceptance, and supporting student-led LGBTQ groups and inclusive sex education.
• Fund Equity In Schools: California’s education system creates funding gaps between wealthy and low-income communities by relying heavily on local property taxes. The state must prioritize equity in education by implementing an equity index.
• Provide Language Access: California schools must provide language access services to ensure English Language Learners fully participate in education.
• Invite Community Involvement: Parents, students, and the wider community must have a voice in local school and district curriculum committees, School Site Councils, Local Control and Accountability Plans(LCAP) committees, school board meetings, and Parent Teacher Associations (PTAs).

To achieve Educational Justice in California, we need a systemic approach focusing on restorative justice, culturally responsive teaching, equitable funding, language accessibility, and community involvement. This will create a fair education system that caters to all students.

Who Are We?

The Central Valley Movement Building (CVMB) is a coalition of community-based organizations working to expose and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline in the Central Valley. The members of the CVMB coalition are The Black Parallel School Board (BPSB), The Dolores Huerta Foundation (DHF), Tower Of Youth (TOY), and The Collective for Liberatory Lawyering (C4LL). This alliance of community-based organizations in the Central Valley work in Kern, Kings, Fresno, Madera, Merced, South Sacramento, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Tulare Counties.

CVMB has also allied with Dignity in Schools California (DSC CA) to promote school discipline reform and the Education Justice narrative. Our alliance aims to connect people, information, and resources to build regional leadership capacity without creating dependence on external expertise.

• We advocate for using Restorative Practices, Culturally Conscious Pedagogy, and positive school environments that support students rather than punish them.
• We call for removing School Resource Officers (police) from campuses because policing on campus undermines the cultivation of Holistic Support.
• We want to support the organizing of students and parents in the Central Valley to end all ableist, racist, xenophobia, and sexist disciplinary policies and practices in the classroom, curriculum, and by administration.

Parent/Student/Community Power: We advocate for active community participation in school and district curriculum committees, LCAP committees, school board meetings, and PTSA, with the goal of meaningful shared governance rather than often tokenizing ‘engagement’ approaches

What Do We Want?

Our mission is to achieve Education Justice for every student in the Central Valley. We demand a supportive, encouraging, and healing approach to education that considers the whole person. 

Our movement prioritizes liberation and equity, inspired by the Freedom Schools during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. We will not allow the system to marginalize and oppress students of color. 

The current institutional narrative of school discipline is rigid and punitive, based on the false premise that strict zero-tolerance policies and police presence on campuses promote safety. We demand change and will not settle for anything less.

Our students are criminalized by police in schools, robbed of their freedoms, and too often fed into our country’s system of mass incarceration via the school-to-prison pipeline. CVMBs unique movement-building strategy, coupled with the strong commitment of our partners to achieve a vision, has led to several positive impacts that are dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. CVMB is driven by the tireless dedication of the partners, who will not rest until every education environment provides a healing, supportive, compassionate, and equitable learning space for all students so that they may achieve their academic goals.    

It’s time to challenge and dismantle the systems of oppression that keep our youth and the education system from reaching their full potential.

JOIN THE MOVEMENT

Join us in the fight for Education Justice in the Central Valley! Together, we can create a healthy and equitable educational environment that supports every student’s success. 

Here’s how you can get involved:

• Advocate: Contact your local representatives, school boards, and education policymakers to urge them to prioritize Education Justice and address the disparities in our education system.
• Follow Us: Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Our Website to stay updated on our efforts, events, and opportunities for engagement. We also encourage you to use the hashtag  #EdJustice on your socials to stay active in the movement to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline.  
• Spread the word: Share our mission and resources with your friends, family, and colleagues. Start conversations about Education Justice and encourage others to get involved.
•  Exercise Parent/Student/Community Power: Get involved in your local school and district committees, meetings, and PTAs. By actively participating, we can shape policies and practices that prioritize student well-being and success.

Join CVMB’s mission to forcefully challenge oppressive systems and completely dismantle the disastrous school-to-prison pipeline. It is crucial that every Central Valley student thrives, and we will not rest until this goal is achieved. Take immediate and decisive action now for the sake of Education Justice!