From Lockers to Lockdown Series Continues

  The parents’ and children’s advocacy groups Gwinnett SToPP, The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, and The Interfaith Children’s Movement are continuing their quest to educate the community about the inherit dangers black boys in special education face in school daily.  The purpose of these community meetings is to provide quality education for all children, […]

Gwinnett SToPP Parent Leadership Institute Alum Revives League of Women Voters of Gwinnett County

Gwinnett County has been without a League of Women Voters chapter for about 5 years, but Stephanie Wright is eager to change that. After spending two years managing an Indivisible group in Duluth and coordinating several candidate forums throughout Gwinnett County (including two school board forums with Gwinnett SToPP) Stephanie has decided to focus on […]

From Lockers to Lockdown: Black Boys, Special Education and the STPP

Gwinnett Coalition to Dismantle the School To Prison Pipeline (Gwinnett SToPP), Georgia Council for Developmental Disabilities (GCDD), and Interfaith Children’s Movement in conjunction with the Dignity in Schools Week Of Action, hosted “From Lockers to Lockdown: Black Boys, Special Education and the School to Prison Pipeline” last Saturday. The event explored racial equity in schools and […]

Open Letter to Secretary DeVos

  Earlier this year, The U.S. Department of Education (ED) met with advocates to discuss the possible repeal of the federal school discipline guidance. As a result of a suggestion received during the meeting, ED decided to hold listening sessions around the country to hear more from stakeholders. Following the Parkland, FL school shootings Ed […]

Official Launch- ESSA Engage for Equity Campaign & Toolkit

The Dignity in Schools Campaign, Partners for Each and Every Child, and the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. developed this toolkit to serve as a call to action and to empower parents, families, caregivers, students, and other community members with the information and tools they need to take action on ESSA in schools. This Toolkit provides resources […]

Disciplinary Action of Students Participating in Walkouts in Support of School Safety

Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) issued a statement regarding student participation in the National School Walkout on March 14th. Gwinnett responded with its typical punish and pushout stance. You can read our response here. Some students are hesitant to participate in the walkout for fear of being overly punished. That’s where parents and adults come […]

S.E.L.F. (Self-Determination, Empowerment, Love Freedom)

Toyasha Vaughn, 2014 Parent Leadership Institute graduate has been hard at work in Gwinnett County establishing an empowerment program for girls called S.E.L.F. (Self-Determination, Empowerment, Love Freedom). Ivy Preparatory Academy at Kirkwood, a gender-focused charter school, partnered with Toyasha to implement Professional Development Wednesday.  She provided age-appropriate workshops with the entire student body focused on […]

ESSA Engage for Equity Campaign & Toolkit

Dignity in Schools Campaign members, NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and Partners for Each and Every Child launched the ESSA Engage for Equity campaign and pre-released its accompanying jointly developed Toolkit. The campaign is designed to empower students, parents and other stakeholders to hold conversations in their local school that can only positively impact education. This […]

Keep the Federal School Discipline Guidance!

Four years ago, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division jointly issued guidance documents, reminding school districts of the law and giving them a road map to identify, avoid and remedy discriminatory disciplinary policies. We are very concerned the U.S. Dept. of Education, under the direction of […]

The School-to-Prison Pipeline: The Intersections of Students of Color with Disabilities

On Friday, December 8, 2017, the Dignity in Schools Campaign (DSC) and NAACP Legal Defense Fund (LDF) attended the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (USCCR) briefing entitled, The School-to-Prison Pipeline: The Intersections of Students of Color with Disabilities. It is an independent, bipartisan, fact-finding federal agency charged with enhancing the development and enforcement of national […]