One of the huge factors that can rob a child of opportunities in his future is lack of access to an education. It is one of the great tragedies of juvenile life in America that so many of our youth find the path to their future limited by a lack of access to learning.
Today I’d like to point out a few organizations doing excellent work as they strive to break down barriers between kids and education.
Education Justice at Education Law Center seeks high quality educational opportunity for all children, including low-income and minority children, children learning English, and children with disabilities.
As part of ELC, EdJustice offers support services to a network of litigators and other education advocates across the country to secure the Opportunity To Learn and equity in funding and learning resources. EdJustice and ELC help advocates press state and federal policymakers to extend the excellence in wealthy suburban schools to low-wealth urban and rural communities and children.
Coalition for Educational Justice
The NYC Coalition for Educational Justice (CEJ) is organizing a parent-led movement for educational equity and excellence in the city’s public schools. We are a citywide collaborative of community-based organizations and unions whose members are parents, community residents and teachers. Together, we are fighting to ensure that every child in NYC receives a quality and well-rounded education.
Alliance for Educational Justice
The Alliance for Educational Justice (AEJ) is a new national alliance of youth organizing and intergenerational groups working for educational justice. AEJ aims to bring grassroots groups together to bring about changes in federal education policy, build a national infrastructure for the education justice sector, and build the capacity of our organizations and our youth leaders to sustain and grow the progressive movement over the long haul.
The mission of the Education Justice project is to build a model college-in-prison program that demonstrates the positive impacts of higher education upon incarcerated people, their families, the communities from which they come, and society as a whole. While this group does not deal directly with children it is vital nonetheless.
Research is clear. College-in-prison programs reduce arrest, conviction, and reincarceration rates among released prisoners. Evidence has also linked the presence of college-in-prison programs to fewer disciplinary incidents within prison, finding that such programs produce safer environments for prisoners and staff alike. College-prison programs also have benefits for inmates’ families and, hence, their communities. The strongest predictor of whether a given person will attend college is whether her or his parents did. When an incarcerated person receives a college education, whether or not s/he is eventually released, his or her children are more likely to pursue their own educations.
Note: Regular Blogging will resume Monday as I am in the midst of a cross country move. Please aprdon any delay in replying to your comments.
Image by sleepyneko, used under its Creative Commons license
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