…will bring common sense back to discipline while ensuring safe schools.
Denver, CO – The Colorado Senate passed Senate Bill 46 – the smarter school discipline bill – with an overwhelming bipartisan 32-3 vote this morning.
“Students need to be in school learning, not wasting the time and resources of the law enforcement system,” said Ricardo Martinez, Co-Executive Director of Padres y Jóvenes Unidos. “We are pleased the Senators recognized that existing zero tolerance discipline policies don’t give school administrators the discretion to use common sense when dealing with student behavior problem.”
Youth members of Padres y Jóvenes Unidos have been a driving force for school discipline reform since the fall of 2010, when they began researching state laws and district policies, educating fellow students around the state and testifying before the task force and in other venues. They continue to be a presence at the Capitol to promote smarter discipline for safe schools.
“This bill will keep 10,000 kids a year out of the juvenile justice system for minor misbehavior,” said Dionna Hudson, a leader of Jóvenes Unidos and student at Denver’s South High School. “I’m relieved that legislators understand that students should stay in school.”
The bill will advance to the House of Representatives, where Rep. B.J. Nikkel is the primary sponsor.
Title: “Smarter School Discipline Bill (SB 46) Passes in Colorado Senate”
Author: Padres y Jóvenes Unidos
Date: April 27, 2012
Source: Padres y Jóvenes Unidos Action Alert
FUREEous Youth know what the issues are for unemployed young people: we need training and experience so that we can secure sustainable jobs and promising futures.
Unfortunately, Mayor Bloomberg doesn’t seem to prioritize this need, seeing how he continues to cut funding for programs that do exactly that.
In response to these budget cuts, FUREEous Youth led a direct action at the City Council Youth Services Committee’s March 15th public hearing for the budget of DYCD. We called on the Mayor to allocate more funding to programs that help young people get ready for careers, such as the Summer Youth Employment Program, after school programs, and internship programs.
With our mouths taped shaped, we also pushed for greater democracy for youth in the process that affects us. We urged the Youth Services Committee to provide youth with more access to their meetings and public hearings by holding them later in the day so that more youth can attend and testify on their own behalf.
Check out this video showing FUREEous Youth as we prepared for the action and later reflect on it.
FUREEous Youth meets every Thursday at 4pm. Interested in joining? Contact Dez at dez@furee.org or 718-852-2960 x307.
Title: “Youth Speak Up with Mouths Taped Shut”
Author: FUREE
Date: April 19, 2012
Source: FUREEous Notes Newsletter