Education

Promoting Dignity in New York City Schools

In New York City, less than 60% of high school students graduate in four years, and only 28% of Black male students and 25% of students with disabilities, graduate on time. Key factors contributing to this educational crisis are the negative school climates and harsh disciplinary practices, such as suspensions and police interventions, that alienate students and deny access to education. Research has shown that punitive, zero-tolerance discipline practices increase the likelihood that students will fall behind academically and even drop out of school. NESRI works in coalition with students, educators and advocates to change citywide policies to reduce suspensions and guarantee students' human rights to education and to be treated with dignity.

Dignity in Schools Campaign-New York (DSC-NY)

DSC-NY is a coalition of youth, parents, advocates and educators calling for positive, school-wide approaches to discipline that improve the school environment, reduce conflict, and increase learning. We work to reform the NYC Discipline Code to reduce suspensions and implement positive approaches to discipline, like Restorative Practices and Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS). Members of DSC-NY include Advocates for Children, DRUM, Urban Youth Collaborative, Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, Teachers Unite and Children's Defense Fund New York. DSC-NY holds workshops and teach-ins, organizes testimony before the Department of Education, and develops policy recommendations. Watch video from our Oct. 14 Teach-in on Solutions for Positive School Discipline and sign our Call to Action.

Teachers Unite for Student Safety

Teachers Unite is a grassroots organization that mobilizes teachers to work with community-based organizations to improve education. In 2008, NESRI worked with Teachers Unite to document teacher views about how to make schools safe, improve learning environments and reduce the criminalization of students. Our collaborative report, Teachers Talk: School Climate, Safety and Human Rights, is based on surveys of more than 300 New York City public school teachers from 136 middle and high schools. It shows that teachers support a holistic, human rights-based approach to discipline that uses preventive and constructive strategies to create positive school cultures, teach behavior skills and use conflict resolution.

Student Safety Coalition

NESRI is a founding member of the Student Safety Coalition, made up of advocates and community organizations working to end the New York City School to Prison Pipeline and its disproportionate impact on youth of color and youth with special needs. The Coalition includes the New York Civil Liberties Union, the Urban Youth Collaborative, Teachers Unite, Advocates for Children, Make the Road NY, the Correctional Association, NAACP Legal Defense Fund and the Children’s Defense Fund – NY. The coalition is advocating for passage of the Student Safety Act legislation to improve oversight of school safety, and is working to support successful school safety models. NESRI has written commentaries in local press and testified before the City Council about these issues.