FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 16, 2022

Media Contact: Lauren Henson, press@populardemocracy.org

In response to today’s House Education and Labor Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Subcommittee hearing on: “Serving All Students: Promoting a Healthier, More Supportive School Environment,” DaMareo Cooper, Co-Executive Director of Center for Popular Democracy, issued the following statement:

“As Congress members discuss healthy and supportive schools, they must center the experiences and vision of Black and brown young people all across the country. We need schools that are fully funded to provide the resources communities are demanding to ensure a safe, healthy and supportive environment. Unfortunately, in many places when Black and brown young people returned to school, they were greeted with police violence, corporal punishment, and restraints and seclusion. This must end. Schools cannot be healthy and supportive until they are police free. 

“The Center for Popular Democracy, along with the Federal School Discipline and Climate Coalition, strongly supports the suite of bills including the Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act (CNC) to end federal funding for police in schools and fund positive supports; Keeping All Students Safe Act (KASSA) to end the use of seclusion and limit the use of physical restraint in schools; and, Protecting Our Students in Schools Act (POSSA) to eliminate the abusive practice of corporal punishment in schools. We call on every member of Congress who believes young people deserve to go to healthy, safe, and supportive schools to co-sponsor and support the passage of these bills.”  

To learn more about young people’s vision and demands, visit: www.youthmandate.com and to read about their experiences with police and security in schools, visit: www.youthmandate.com/arrested-learning. 

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About the Center for Popular Democracy: The Center for Popular Democracy is the largest multiracial network in the nation. CPD and CPD Action have over half a million members in 48 state and local community organizations across 38 states dedicated to achieving racial and economic justice through local grassroots organizing. CPD/A trains and supports leadership, staff, and members to grow base-building organizations to scale and leverage that strength to win cutting-edge policy victories at the federal, state and local level.