Q&A with the Dignity in Schools Campaign California (DSC CA) on how local organizations across the state are uniting to bring community-led solutions to end youth criminalization.
For the latest edition of our All In for Oakland grantee partner spotlights, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ursula DeWitt, Jasmine Williams, and Geoffrey Winder from Dignity in Schools Campaign California (DSC CA). DSC CA is unique from other grantee partners because of its statewide coalition and movement-based approach to ending the school-to-prison pipeline.
Read my interview with DSC CA to learn more about their work to convene grassroots organizations to create transformative, systemic change for parents, students, families, and communities and position them as movement leaders.
— Ray Colmenar, President of Akonadi Foundation
Even though it’s a challenge, our members show up and show out whenever we need them. So that is something that is always amazing to me, just their willingness to say “Yes, I’m doing my local work over here, but building a statewide movement is also really important to me.” I am grateful for it.
Q: Could you share a little bit about DSC, including its history and current work?
A: Geoffrey – Dignity in Schools Campaign California (DSC CA) started as a collaboration of 17 organizations in 2017 that were working to end school push out in California, and the school-to-prison pipeline specifically. The coalition began as a group of folks that were brought together by The California Endowment. But I think the story of the coalition is that it was really a community-driven space that created a coalition that we needed versus a coalition that was pushed on us. This created an opportunity for local organizations to unite toward a statewide movement to end interactions between the education system and the criminal justice system.
Ursula – Yes, and today, we currently have 14 member organizations. I think one thing that makes DSC CA different is that to be a member of our coalition, you have to be a local organization. And that is because we really believe that local work is what should guide statewide efforts. We listen to our members and their needs and that’s how we determine our strategy. And so if someone is interested in DSC CA, we always point them back to a local organization that they could become involved with first, since community work is vital to the movement.
Q: DSC CA works to build power among parents, youth, organizers, advocates, and educators to transform the public school system. Could you elaborate on how DSC CA brings these groups together?
A: Ursula – DSC CA organizations are based in the Bay Area, Central Valley, Central Coast, Inland Valley, and Los Angeles. These organizations not only connect on a statewide level, but also within their regions.
In addition, we have working tables that focus on areas like parent organizing, Black organizing, and healing culture. The working tables create space for leaders and organizers from different organizations who are working with communities of color and parents to exchange notes and visions and come up with collective plans.
We also offer a Strategic Action Academy Fellowship for emerging leaders to help strengthen the leadership of our member organizations and organizing infrastructure across the state, which has been impactful in building organizational capacity and giving people an opportunity to talk about their organizing work, including their challenges and wins.
schools and law enforcement often position themselves as the primary “caregivers” for marginalized communities, perpetuating a cycle where help is intertwined with criminalization. We want to change and reimagine that.
Q: What are some challenges to bringing together a coalition of organizations?
A: Ursula – Our organizations are serving their communities and are often pressed for time, yet we are still asking them to carve out time for collective action across the state. It is a huge commitment. Even though it’s a challenge, our members show up and show out whenever we need them. So that is something that is always amazing to me, just their willingness to say “Yes, I’m doing my local work over here, but building a statewide movement is also really important to me.” I am grateful for it.
Q: What are some key factors contributing to the school-to-prison pipeline, particularly for students of color?
A: Ursula – Our organizations are serving their communities and are often pressed for time, yet we are still asking them to carve out time for collective action across the state. It is a huge commitment. Even though it’s a challenge, our members show up and show out whenever we need them. So that is something that is always amazing to me, just their willingness to say “Yes, I’m doing my local work over here, but building a statewide movement is also really important to me.” I am grateful for it.
A: Geoffrey – Despite some policy solutions and fixes, the design of the system is still calibrated towards pushing out Black, brown, Indigenous, LGBTQ, and students with disabilities. At DSC CA, we are pushing for the largest level of reforms because we understand that the system adapts to do what it was designed to do, which is keep a certain number of students from achieving a quality education.
A: Jasmine – Schools work as a microcosm of a larger system. It reflects the same systems that incarcerate adults and harm our communities. And I think working on the school-to-prison pipeline is an opportunity for us to prove that what we do within these small school sites could be reflective of what’s possible to accomplish and change in all aspects of our lives, from housing to quality healthcare.
Q: DSC CA was a key partner in BOP’s campaign for police-free schools. What positive trends are we seeing in the education justice movement?
A: Jasmine – BOP’s 2020 historical win of eliminating the Oakland School Police Department was instrumental in pushing the envelope within the education justice and abolition movement. For us it further solidified the critical importance of DSCCA’s translocal strategy in which we look to prioritize local leadership to inform our statewide direction. Since 2020, we’ve seen a large rise in the interest of grassroots base-building. People are seeing their neighbors, that they trust, in their local laundromats and restaurants and also at school board meetings showing up for their community. That builds hope because, so often, we see nonprofits or politicians coming into neighborhoods for a season and then they’re out with no significant impact made in the community. The grassroots organizations that are committed to their base and committed to their people show up day after day, year after year, and that builds the hope and trust of the folks who live there, which is promising. We also see a rise in more radical positions regarding education justice, with folks being able to call out police and anti-Blackness explicitly as issues in education. It pushes us to dream bigger about what’s possible within public education.
Q: What steps are needed to counter the backlash against reforms addressing police presence in schools?
A: Geoffrey – We must continue to invest in, support, and strengthen Black organizing to address police presence in schools. And it is crucial for us to show that no one is alone in this work. For example, our Black Love and Liberation working group is examining where Black communities have been historically located, where they are moving, and the conditions they face in new areas. And the goal is to foster a sense of statewide community, so that even if individuals might feel isolated, they know they are not alone in challenging anti-Blackness in the education system. There is a network of people across the state standing ready to support, collaborate, and build community with them.
Q: What work is DSC CA leading in Alameda County that you would like people to know about?
A: Ursula – We are currently working with Black Organizing Project (another Akonadi grantee partner) to support the George Floyd Resolution implementation in Oakland and hold our leaders accountable. We are also reconvening a Bay Area working table based on what we’re hearing from folks on the ground to get aligned on the work being done and create a new, collective vision moving forward.
The goal is to foster a sense of statewide community, so that even if individuals might feel isolated, they know they are not alone in challenging anti-Blackness in the education system. There is a network of people across the state standing ready to support, collaborate, and build community with them.
Q: Can you highlight any major milestones or accomplishments DSC CA has achieved or policy priorities?
A: Ursula – There has been significant progress made in reducing school suspensions in areas where DSC CA members organize. In the last 12 years, suspensions have been reduced by 50%.
There have also been successes in reallocating funds from law enforcement to student services and implementing police-free plans in schools, which helps to build stronger, more connected communities. From 2019 – 2022, 11 school districts in California have successfully removed police from schools and ended school police contracts and 20 school districts have adopted transformative school discipline practices.
Q: How can others get involved in supporting DSC CA’s work?
A: Ursula – Reach out to us directly at [email protected] , and we can connect you to regional and local organizations serving your community.