Community Education Defense

Community education defense is a collective practice that disrupts the school-to-prison pipeline by stopping school push-out in its tracks. By equipping advocates with the practical tools to stand up for students’ human rights, education defenders are a network of safeguards that both directly oppose discriminatory discipline and empower others to do the same. This practice de-centers attorneys while honoring the expertise of the community. We strive to co-create and democratize legal tools so that families can leverage their innate power to shift school culture towards centering the dignity of students and parents. 

Across each of the regions we work in, community education defense takes different shapes reflecting the diverse political conditions. In the Central Valley, we work with the Central Valley Movement Building Organizing Institute to co-create accessible resources that empower families and students to defend their core education and human rights. In the Inland Empire, we are developing tools with Congregations Organized for Prophetic Engagement (COPE) to integrate into a curriculum for parent organizers to stop school push-out. In Los Angeles, we partnered with Arts for Healing and Justice Network to build an intergenerational network of education defenders. Now, we are supporting our education defenders to expand the network in LA to support families challenging school and district decisions.