It’s that time of year when families travel to come together and put their differences aside, the time to be thankful for all they’ve been given and have worked for, the time to catch up, or to break the daily routine of just getting by and stop to recognize there’s much to appreciate in life.
More than three years ago, a group of Fresno youths launched an effort to remake the city’s public education system. We knew that too many young people were dropping out of high school and we wanted to stop this epidemic. This youth team called itself SUCCESS (Students United to Create a Climate of Engagement Support and Safety), and we did a tremendous amount of research over the past few years.
This year, Butler is determined to have zero suspensions. Never mind the iron bars across the windows, security guards blocking the school entrance and police officers who stroll the hallway. Fresno Unified, in its own effort to repair chronically high dropout and suspension rates, has paid close attention. Fresno may be ready to dream up its own “Peace Land.”
Jane wishes she had restorative justice, because she feels like teachers would have heard her side of the story.
John Alex is in a program that uses restorative justice and says through it, he was able to take responsibility for his actions.