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Hear the Grassroots Voices at the "Solutions Not Suspensions" Los Angeles Launch Event
 Solutions Not Suspensions is calling
for a moratorium on out-of-school suspensions and the
implementation of positive discipline alternatives in
schools across the country.
Add your voice to the call!
Want to learn about
education policy in PA and how to organize in your local
community?
Click here to find an event near you!
Connect with advocates for quality public education across the country. Send us success stories, information to share, grassroots mobilizing stories, policy ideas and other news. Forward this newsletter to your networks and urge them to subscribe. |
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 OTL
HIGHLIGHTS |
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Who's
With Us? Supporters Sign on to End Suspensions! Two weeks ago the OTL Campaign joined the Dignity in Schools Campaign to launch "Solutions Not Suspensions: A call for a moratorium on out-of-school suspensions." The initiative is gaining momentum, racking up endorsements and grabbing the attention of both national and local media outlets. Add your voice to the call and help build a national movement to stop suspensions! Check out some of the media hits about the initiative so far, as well as video and photos from the "Solutions Not Suspensions" launch event in Los Angeles! Read more> |
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NC
Law Ensures OTL Resources Similar to the OTL Campaign’s policy proposal for Personal Opportunity Plans, North Carolina has passed a law that requires schools to develop a customized Personal Education Plan (PEP) for every student considered to be at risk of academic failure—and provide proven educational strategies such as tutoring, mentoring, coaching, smaller classes, after-school instruction or summer school. See North Carolina Justice Center’s guidebook about the PEP law to support involvement and advocacy by NC parents. Read more> |
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Investing
Where It Counts: Early Reading Proficiency Great news for children in Arkansas! A new campaign is fighting to ensure that all third-grade students are reading proficiently by 2020. The Arkansas Campaign for Grade-Level Reading, coordinated by the Winthrop Rockerfeller Foundation and supported by several OTL allies, is pushing for better access to early childhood education and summer programs, a reduction in chronic absenteeism and an increase in parent and community engagement. Read more> |
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PA
and NY Advocates Reform Discipline Codes Thanks to the organizing efforts of students, parents, teachers and advocates, public schools in both Philadelphia and New York City will implement new discipline codes that emphasize the need to keep students in the classroom rather than pushing them out of school. Many of the groups involved in the push for reform in both cities are part of the national "Solutions Not Suspensions" initiative. Learn about Philadelphia's new code> Learn more about NYC's new code> |
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Good
Intentions Gone Wrong: Inequity in MA Funding If you're confused by the intricacies of Massachusetts's state education funding system, and in particular its "foundation budget," you're not the only one. So sit back and let the folks at Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center demystify the whole process and explain how a two-decades-old law is denying low-income school districts the resources they need to adequately educated their students. Read more> |
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Really,
Gov. Walker, These Policies Just Aren't Working Welcome to Fairly Normal, WI. It's a fictional but entirely average public school district in Wisconsin and, like other districts across the state, Fairly Normal is finding it increasingly difficult to keep its doors open, let alone educate its students, as a result of state education policies that are undermining the district's finances. In fact, Fairly Normal is staring down the barrel at fiscal insolvency and bankruptcy by the 2015-16 school year unless policymakers get their priorities straight. Read more> |
| RESOURCES |
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Unequal
Education: Less Spending on Students of Color Education redlining is hurting schools and students across the country, according to a report from the Center for American Progress. "Unequal Education: Federal Loophole Enables Lower Spending on Students of Color" reveals the direct and disturbing relationship between the racial composition of schools and how much those schools spend to educate their students: As Black student enrollment rises, instructional expenditures decline. This report is a valuable tool for understanding how bad education policies, in this case the "comparability loophole" in Title I funding, allows students of color to be systematically denied a fair and equitable opportunity to learn. How does your state measure up? Read more> |
| IN
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