Education Equity is integral to SJPC’s definition of Social Justice. We understand “Education Equity” as requiring a commitment to:
Ensuring that all students, regardless of circumstances or location, have access to opportunities to succeed in the classroom and beyond
Raising awareness & empowering students affected by the systemic racism in the educational system
Addressing the financial challenges of the city’s most vulnerable and disenfranchised school districts and rectifying unaddressed health hazards in low income schools
Promoting youth justice in Sacramento, (e.g. advocating for trauma-informed counselors and other resources that should replace “School Resource Officers”)
Dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline
Education Equity
TL;DR: Sacramento City Manager - and all around disappointment - Howard Chan attempted to remove funding for the RydeFreeRT program (a program that costs the City $1M...by contrast, this budgeting cycle we gave the police a $30M raise), but thanks in large part to community mobilization, this program will remain funded for another year! Unfortunately the City only covered $250,000 of the cost, with the remaining $750,000 being split between Sac RT and the Sacramento, Natomas, Elk Grove, and Twin Rivers Unified school districts. Permanent funding for this program will continue to be fought for.
As a Black woman, I find the concept of acting out of character so interesting. Acting out of character, what a phrase. Shakespeare once said, “All the world’s a stage, all the men and women merely players.”
Today, we’re reporting back on a conversation we had with Eleanor Oliver, a member of Decarcerate Sacramento, who took the time to share their story regarding the criminal legal system with us!
As I stand at the Buckeye school board’s meeting for the forced outing of queer children, listening to parent’s fear of their children “daring” to be queer prioritized over my community's safety, I think “I’ve been warning my friends to pay attention.”
Welcome to SJPC's first Community Meeting field report!
We'll be bringing you these updates each month following our Community Meetings so that, even if you couldn't make the meeting, you can catch up with other Sacramentans involved in social justice work.
Today we're bringing y'all a report back from an interview between SJPC editor and Dwight Harvey, a former Vice Principal (4 years) at Rio Linda Highschool, about the year he spent working as a Coordinator for the Twin Rivers Unified School District's Department of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI).