Tag: #fight

NPR: Former Chicago Principal Discusses Schools’ Reliance On Police Officers

This article ran online on WBEZ/NPR on July 4, 2020.
By Scott Simon

Transcript:

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Metal detectors and armed resource officers have become common in U.S. schools. Of course, there is also a movement to remove police from schools and resistance to that change. June 24, the Chicago Board of Education narrowly voted to keep its $33 million contract with the Chicago Police Department to provide officers in its schools. Liz Dozier was principal at Chicago’s Fenger Academy High School for six years and changed that school’s approach to security and its reliance on resource officers with results that have been praised. She’s now the founder and CEO of Chicago Beyond, an organization that raises capital funds for community, justice and youth initiatives and joins us now from Chicago. Ms. Dozier, thanks so much for being with us.

LIZ DOZIER: Thanks so much for having me. I’m glad to be here.

SIMON: We should preface you didn’t think that police officers in your school were to blame for violence that occurred.

DOZIER: That’s right. A lot of folks think that, you know, when we have police officers in schools that it provides safety. And at least from my vantage point and what I’ve seen throughout the years is that it’s a false sense of safety. And what really undergirds safety is often those student-adult relationships. It is mental health and wellness support. It is an environment that is intentionally created where each student’s needs matter.

SIMON: Well, tell us about Fenger when you came there.

DOZIER: Challenging is not even the correct word to describe it. My first year there, we had approximately 300 arrests inside of the school building. We had a 20% dropout rate, about a 40% state graduation rate. I was there for six years with my team, and you fast-forward and those results dramatically shifted. So those arrest rates went down to virtually zero. The graduation rate doubled from 40% to over 80% and that dropout rate was down below 2%. And what caused that shift was not us having school resource officers. It was investing in those things matter. It was creating an environment that was intentionally built around our young people and their specific needs. And that’s truly what supports safety in our schools.

SIMON: Does having school resource officers on the grounds get in the way of that?

DOZIER: So we originally had two resource officers that we worked with the commander to move out. They weren’t best positioned to work with children. And then we got two resource officers who were fantastic who really bought in to the idea of restorative justice, who bought in to the idea of peace circles and were just absolutely phenomenal.

SIMON: With youngsters seeing protests and learning about the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and videos of police killing unarmed Black people, what do you say to students who might be returning to school in the fall – actually, they’ve opened summer schools now in Chicago – and who will see police resource officers there?

DOZIER: As I think about our young people coming back to school in whatever form that might be, I think that, as a country, we are at this critical juncture of really understanding, you know, the history of police and, you know, how police were formed, police brutality, you know, what’s happened, and it gives a definite (ph) opportunity for learning.

SIMON: I have to ask you on this holiday weekend, Ms. Dozier, the violence is beginning to match the high levels of 2016.

DOZIER: Yeah.

SIMON: And so many of the victims so young. I wonder what your feelings are.

DOZIER: It’s almost unfathomable when you think about the number of deaths but also the number of children that we’re seeing. I mean, you know, the gun violence over the most recent weekend left 16 people dead, I mean, two young children, 50 others wounded. Father’s Day weekend, same thing – 104 people shot, 14 fatally. It is absolutely incredible. But I am – I do have hope, and I think it is not going to be the police alone. It’s not going to be the community alone. But it will be us both community and police working together to ensure that our streets are safe.

SIMON: Liz Dozier is a former high school principal of Fenger Academy High School in Chicago and founder and CEO of Chicago Beyond. Thank you so much for being with us.

DOZIER: Thanks for having me.

Chicago Sun-Times: Ex-CPS principal who turned around tough Fenger High explains why cops don’t belong in schools

Liz Dozier significantly improved a violent, under-performing South Side school. Here’s why she thinks there are better ways to create a safe school environment than having police in Chicago’s schools.

This article ran in the Chicago Sun-Times on June 26, 2020.
By Mark Brown

Liz Dozier knows a little something about police in the schools.

As principal of Fenger Academy High School from 2009 to 2015, Dozier was widely credited with turning a violent and under-performing school into a welcoming place that gave kids a chance to succeed.

And what she’ll tell you now, with benefit of hindsight, is that police do not belong in Chicago schools, at least not stationed there full-time.

That’s not a knock on police. That’s her sincere belief that there are better ways to create a safe school environment without exposing children to the criminal justice system that comes with having police in the building.

The Chicago Board of Education this past week narrowly rejected an attempt to end a $33 million contract with the Chicago Police Department that provides armed, uniformed “school resource officers” in most high schools.

But the issue is far from settled. The question of renewing the contract will be back before the school board within weeks. Some Chicago City Council members are pushing to take up the matter as well.

That’s why I sought out Dozier, who I knew from her work at Fenger before the CNN docu-series “Chicagoland” made her an education celebrity.

I believe her to be the real deal, as apparently do Chicagoans Kimbra and Mark Walter, who have channeled millions of dollars into her good works through an organization she founded in 2016, Chicago Beyond, dedicated to helping young people realize their potential.

Dozier has been out of CPS for a while. But that also gives her the freedom to speak her mind. She definitely opened my mind.

Dozier inherited a bad situation at Fenger, which is located in Roseland, with daily brawls involving 50 to 60 students. In the second week of school, one of her students, Derrion Albert, was clubbed to death in a melee on his way home.

Police made 300 arrests at Fenger in her first year there.

What eventually turned around those problems, Dozier believes, was building relationships with students, not making arrests.

Dozier and her Fenger staff emphasized creating a school more attuned to the emotional needs of its students than to policing them. That required understanding why students were acting out.

Instead of relying on police to enforce discipline, they instituted restorative justice practices, which focus on repairing harm rather than applying punishment, and held peace circles to defuse conflicts. They provided grief counseling and anger-management training to students and created trauma groups to help deal with emotional baggage they brought to school from home.

It might sound like mumbo-jumbo, but these methods work well with young people.

By the time I visited Fenger a few years later, I encountered a warm, friendly atmosphere and a more relaxed student body.

After her first year at Fenger, Dozier moved to replace the police officers assigned to the school with new ones more attuned to her philosophy. She has only good things to say about the work of that second set of school resource officers.

But she thinks her students would have been better off with more counselors, social workers or therapists instead. Security guards from the neighborhood trained in de-escalation techniques are just as effective in providing school security in most situations, she says, and can call in police in extreme circumstances.

A school principal will always need a good working relationship with the local district commander, but police are asked to intervene in too many situations, Dozier believes.

“We put too much on them,” she says. “It doesn’t necessarily warrant a police response.”

The problem with getting police involved is that it sucks students into a situation from which they might never recover.

“Once a kid touches the criminal justice system, it just steamrolls,” Dozier says.

It’s not enough for CPS to give a school the option of getting rid of its police officers if no resources are offered to take their place.

In Chicago’s resource-poor schools, it’s hardly a surprise that school communities would choose to hang on to what little they have, no matter how imperfect.

Dozier agrees with those who say the $33 million that CPS spends on its police contract should be reinvested in alternative resources.

“You have to give the schools what they need,” she says. “You can’t just take [police] out and say, ‘Good luck.’ ”

Maybe that can’t be accomplished by the beginning of this school year. But it ought to be the stated goal of the Chicago Public Schools.

Recap: Unpacking White Privilege

How to Be a White Ally and an Anti-Racist

When we choose to be anti-racist, we become actively conscious about race, racism and anti-Blackness AND take actions to end racial inequities in our daily lives. Being anti-racist is believing that racism is everyone’s problem, and we all have a role to play in stopping it. There is no neutral.

We hosted this conversation, a first in our series, with two leaders about their own anti-racist journeys and the actions others can take to be a White ally and take action now.

Watch the hourlong discussion below and click the link below to download our resource toolkit and continue your own journey.

Recap: Incarceration and COVID-19 with the University of Chicago Institute of Politics

On Tuesday May 26, 2020 The University of Chicago Institute of Politics hosted a virtual panel to discuss the impacts of COVID-19 across the country, and how the pandemic might shape our views of incarceration moving forward. Our Leader in Residence, Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia was invited to be a panelist along side Van Jones, CEO of REFORM Alliance; Host of the CNN Podcast “Incarceration Inc.” the panel was moderated by Cheryl Corley, Correspondent, NPR National Desk.

When asked by Corley, how optimistic they are about seeing some of the operational changes that have happened in result of COVID-19 actually become permanent Dr. Tapia responded, “the more that we continue to push these conversations and indict not people, not the people who are the elected officials, but the criminal justice system itself, we can turn this thing around.”

Watch the full panel discussion below.

Read our Leader in Residence Dr. Nneka Jones Tapia’s published op-ed in the Chicago Tribune calling on leaders to show more consideration to those inside jails and prisons during this unprecedented time. Click here to read the full op-ed.

To read more about our Beyond Incarceration initiative click here.

Chicago Beyond Joins #WeMatterToo Campaign

Today Chicago Beyond has announced its partnership on the new #WeMatterToo campaign launched by Imagine Justice, the social impact organization founded by award-winning artist/activist and Chicago-native Common.

Unveiled this week, the #WeMatterToo campaign aims to help incarcerated people as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread throughout America’s jails, prisons and detention centers at an alarming rate. In Chicago’s Cook County Jail, the infection rate is reportedly higher than most anywhere else in the country, underscoring the urgency of addressing the rapid spread of the virus amongst system-involved men, women and youth.

“COVID-19 has both highlighted and exacerbated the deep systemic inequities that existed long before the crisis hit, heightening the importance of finding solutions and building coalition across sectors to support individuals and families,” said Liz Dozier, Founder and CEO of Chicago Beyond. “People of color across the country continue to be disproportionately impacted by this pandemic, those of us in social impact spaces have a moral, social and economic obligation to act with urgency and compassion. Chicago Beyond is proud to stand with Common, Imagine Justice and the many partners who have joined forces behind the #WeMatterToo campaign. Now is the moment to demonstrate solidarity and exercise our humanity by showing up for all of society.”

Prior to the outbreak of COVID-19, Chicago Beyond partnered with The Cook County Sheriff’s Office, The Chicago Children’s Museum and The Center for Childhood Resilience at Lurie Children’s Hospital to launch Beyond Incarceration — a program to reconnect incarcerated individuals with their children and loved ones in a safe, family-friendly environment. The growing public health crisis has heightened concerns about the high risk of exposure to COVID-19 that currently incarcerated people, as well as those who are returning home to their families and communities, face. As part of the Going Beyond COVID-19 relief initiative, Chicago Beyond focused part of its efforts on providing hygiene supplies and food for individuals being released from Cook County Jail.

“The reality is that far too many people remain unnecessarily incarcerated in our jails and prisons, where social distancing and preventive measures like handwashing with soap and use of hand sanitizer are difficult to implement and sustain. This truth combined with the fact that many of these men, women and children have compromised immune systems makes the exposure risks that much more dire,” said Nneka Jones Tapia, Leader-in-Residence at Chicago Beyond and former warden of Cook County Department of Corrections. “Our hope is that the #WeMatterTooCampaign will help to further amplify the obligation to drastically reduce the number of people who are incarcerated using guidelines for safety and improve the living conditions within correctional facilities for those who remain.”

The #WeMatterToo campaign kicked off with the premiere of a new short film produced in collaboration between Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), Imagine Justice and the MacArthur Foundation that is directed by filmmaker Savannah Leaf and executive produced by Common. The film showcases the voices of those currently incarcerated at facilities around the country to amplify their stories and illustrate what’s going on behind the walls of the U.S. criminal justice system as COVID-19 continues to spread.

“Let this time show us that we are all interconnected. We have to be there for our vulnerable communities including our people who are currently incarcerated. Our fates are tied together so we must be courageous and act now. I’m proud to launch #WeMatterToo today alongside 60+ organizations who have dedicated their time and energy to supporting our brothers and sisters currently in prisons, jails and detention centers around the country during this scary and uncertain time. Every single life matters,” said Common, Imagine Justice Founder and Emmy, Grammy and Academy Award Winning Artist.

Chicago Beyond joins a coalition of local and national organization supporting the #WeMatterToo campaign, including Color of Change, ACLU, Alliance For Safety and Justice, Chicago Votes, For Freedoms, The Gathering For Justice, The Sentencing Project, United We Dream, Vera Institute For Justice, and many more.

ABOUT #WEMATTERTOO CAMPAIGN

#WeMatterToo is a grassroots movement, started by Imagine Justice and Anti-Recidivism Coalition, composed of organizations, artists and thought leaders who have dedicated their time and energy to supporting our brothers and sisters currently in prisons, jails and detention centers around the country during this scary and uncertain time. #WeMatterToo will look to change the national narrative around COVID-19 and our criminal justice system, pressure public officials to take action to remedy the situation, amplify the voices and stories of people who are incarcerated and empower communities to be agents of change. For more information, visit www.wemattertoo.co.

ABOUT IMAGINE JUSTICE

Centered at the intersection of art and activism, Imagine Justice is dedicated to leveraging the power of art to advocate for communities around the country, to fight for justice and equality and to stand united against injustice wherever it appears. Common’s Imagine Justice focuses on criminal justice reform, coalition/community building, immigration, bringing humanity to communities who are often dehumanized in society, civic engagement and leveraging the power of art to inspire and spark change. For more information, visit www.imaginejusticenow.com.

Recap: Tech on the Block -Educational Tech Inequities and COVID-19

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On Thursday, April 23, 2020, Chicago Beyond hosted Tech on the Block: Educational Tech Inequities and COVID-19.

Chicago Beyond’s Founder and CEO, Liz Dozier, moderated a conversation with Jennie Magiera, the Global Head of Education Impact at Google, and Miyoshi Knox, the Principal at Stagg School of Excellence in Englewood, Chicago. These education leaders provided us with insights on educational challenges that many young people faced prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, which are now exacerbated during COVID-19 due to a number of inequities. They also shared strategies and opportunities for taking radical change right now to shift the playing field for all young people, especially those in the hardest hit communities of Chicago and other cities like ours.

You can watch the conversation above.

In addition, please see below for thoughts to some of the questions raised during by the audience that we were not able to get to during the actual conversation.

Technology Access

Several questions were asked on the availability of technology access for our students. For example,

How many students in Chicago currently have laptops? How many are lacking devices and/or internet access? Have students been able to learn remotely?

As of April 22, 2020, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) has given out 61,000 computers that were in stock and will hand out the remaining 43,000. There will be 100,000 computers and tablets distributed. CPS has also ordered 10,000 more devices.

Estimates show that 115,000 students need devices. CPS reported that about 146 schools out of its 640 schools had a device for every student.

Sources: WBEZ, Chicago’s NPR News Source, Chicago Tribune

Resources for Teachers, Parents and Students

What are some resources for people to help find specific information and ideas for learning at home, teaching via technology, creating learning opportunities for low-income, etc.?

Google for Education has provided numerous tools and resources for parents, teachers, and students. A good starting point is: https://teachfromhome.google/intl/en/

Additional resources could also be found at: https://en.unesco.org/covid19/educationresponse

How to get involved

What can I do right now to help kids who are facing challenges with online learning?

Becoming more aware of the challenges and the inequities is critical to supporting our youth and our communities. Some additional reading: One in Five Chicago Students Lack Broadband

Explore ways to close some of the divides, such as donating to organizations that are providing hotspots and internet services, e.g., Children First Fund’s Compassion Fund.

A Letter from Our Founder & CEO

Calling Out

New data released in the past week on the COVID-19 crisis has exposed what many of us working for racial equity and justice had felt in the pit of our stomachs for weeks: that people whose household income is low and people of color, specifically African Americans, would suffer disproportionally and in great numbers. In Chicago, Black people make up a staggering 70 percent of those dying from COVID-19, yet represent less than 30 percent of the city’s population.

Along with those statistics, it is important to understand why this is happening: there is no vaccine that will insulate one from the effects of structural racism.

Like a virus, the impacts of structural racism have permeated parts of our city for generations, where vast disparities in health, economic mobility, education access, and housing set the stage long ago for the devastation we’re seeing now.

In fact, by laying over the latest map provided by the city on COVID-19 infection rates by zip code to a historical map showing Chicago’s history of redlining, you can begin to visually see the linkage of past discriminatory practices and the compounded effects of what we’re seeing today.

Watch the moving visual to see inequities in plain sight.

This, of course, is true not just in Chicago, but in hundreds of communities across the country. As we worry about the near-term implications of COVID-19 and meeting people’s basic needs, we must also look to the long-term. We must plan for recovery. Not just recovery in the aftermath of this virus, but a holistic recovery. We must plan a recovery that affirms a transformative shift for our fellow humans inside those red lines on the map above.

Seemingly overnight, the world has fundamentally changed, giving us the opportunity to throw out the playbook for “how it’s always been done” and completely shift our way of thinking and doing. While disruption is revealing deeper problems, it has also created opportunities.

The point is this – we have a chance to call out and take on the red lines – a chance to truly build an equitable playing field.

The map shows in full color where our systems have fallen short over time.
Systems are made up of people.
People have choices.
People also create opportunity with those choices.
Let’s not squander our opportunity.

In solidarity and strength,

Liz Dozier
Founder & CEO, Chicago Beyond

P.S. Chicago Beyond launched Going Beyond to support those on the front lines, not merely in times of crisis, but as a matter of course. It’s also reflective of six core equity principles that anchor our COVID-19 approach, which we hope can also serve as a tool for others forming their approach right now. Click here to learn more.

Six Core Equity Principles in Responding to COVID-19

Edo, Freedom. 2019.

We have been asked: How have you pivoted to respond to COVID-19? And what about the work that was planned before?

We have been spurred to move with even greater urgency due to the crisis, but the work that needs to be done is still what always needed to be done. We have asked ourselves though – how can we re-orient?

Below are some of our reflections as it relates to this movement, and what guides us as we respond to not only this current, urgent moment, but as we think about the collective work in the long-term.

The foundation is trust—recognizing our relatedness—and consciousness that our own assumptions and biases determine what is possible.

1. The full potential of all humans remains our north star, with equity as our light.

Chicago Beyond has always been dedicated to the fullest potential of young people, focused on those up against the most barriers.

Implications with COVID-19:

Who does not have the privilege of “staying at home?” What about those who do not have homes? How do we reach those who are not otherwise reached?

The so what:

Simply put, if we do not intentionally focus on equity, we are almost guaranteed to generate more inequity.

Therefore, we are hyper-focused on who we can reach, and who is employed in the process.

2. May we lift up workers who have always been essential – who risk their lives, well beyond their job description – remembering how essential relationship support is.

We have seen again and again – outreach workers, social workers, organizers, counselors, teachers – they are the frontline for our young people. These are the people who often build and tend to relationships with young people.

Implications with COVID-19:

In this age of having to be physically distant, with many important community structures and safe spaces for our young people needing to physically close down, these essential workers are critical to maintaining and intensifying relationships with those who institutions often find difficult to connect with. Disruptions of these relationships, especially those nurtured over time, will exacerbate challenges as these connections are hard to replicate once interrupted.

The so what:

While we do our duty to be less physically proximate wherever possible, we must invest in, strengthen, and deepen social connection. We have intentionally focused on delivering basic needs supports through hyperlocal organizations, like IMAN, the Institute for Nonviolence Chicago, RAGE, and more. We believe that investing in keeping networks and relationships alive between organizations and residents will help more people over the long-term.

3. Fully step into what we can control, and have the humility to understand the limits of what we can see.

At our core, our organization is designed for adaptation, for challenging dogma (i.e. the way it’s always been done), and practicing something new. To us, this is essential to equity work—because the systems we have inherited are designed to reproduce inequity. If we were to adopt their practices, however good our intentions, further inequity is the result. For example, please check out our approach to evidence and knowledge.

Implications with COVID-19:

With COVID-19, we have seen many moments of the “we never do this” and “we can’ts” falling away. At the same time, given the novel nature of this virus, we are learning new things every day, and being challenged to quickly adapt.

The so what:

We are getting out of our own way, leaning into the energy of “just get started.” This week, we collaborated with a hotel supplier, American Hotel Register to get hygiene supplies to street outreach workers to start conversations about the virus of COVID-19 and violence.

We are in supply chain relationships we could not have imagined at the start of the year, connecting to diapers and food and trucking.

We are taking this chance to go deeper on challenging dogma and “how things get done.”

We have assembled cross-domain, flat teams with authority to move with the working assumption that in a few weeks needs may be different, and our response must adapt.

4. Approach the long-term with wisdom, understanding the slow crisis beneath the fast crisis, and embracing that the long-term starts now.

There is a fast crisis we are focused on, and there is a slow crisis beneath it. This virus shows us how we have been doing on building an equitable society. The long-term work was always crucial, and we have an opportunity to re-orient.

Implications with COVID-19:

Especially in a time when we may be unsettled, grieving, looking for something familiar or something to distract ourselves, it is easy to just recreate on videoconferencing platforms, like Zoom, patterns from before. It is easy to jump to a solution.

The so what:

Start from clarity of thought.

We are having structured, intentional discussion on equity and history of crises with our team, as we act.

We have always developed our strategies acknowledging uncertainty and the importance of learning and pivoting. We do quick-and-dirty strategy updates: knowing what we know now, what do we change? What are new opportunities to serve? How do we just get started? And design our actions so we learn as we go?

The focus stays on the long-term ecosystem, on holistic work.

Complexity sometimes gets confused with diversity. Coordination is important, but monoculture solutions are partial. Who is left out? Who are the smaller nonprofits that might have the critical trust, but are not necessarily perceived as “having capacity,” particularly in crisis?

We are cognizant that we must be vigilant in our support for hyper local non-profits, especially during this time. There is imbedded knowledge and relationships that can help ensure no one is left behind in the immediate or long term.

5. Be thoughtful in calling in and collaborating, while we are unwavering in speaking up—against racism, our narratives of “us” and “the other."

We have a chance to take on our history and our present – a chance to truly disrupt society. The map of the virus’s impact shows in full color where our systems fall short.

Implications with COVID-19:

With COVID-19, old narratives of “us” and “other” are reborn and new ones created. In personal conversations, in public policy, in public narratives.

The so what:

We must fall together, so we are paying attention to coordinated efforts throughout the city, and seeing how we can contribute.

And, we must not entertain assumptions that drive us apart. We endeavor to use our voice, for example this Op-Ed piece about those in the jail whose voices are muffled.

There is no “other”. There is only us.

6. May we heal. May we exhale what does not serve us. May we re-become whole.

Human relatedness and healing was the core of the restorative justice models at Fenger, in how Beyond Incarceration brings children and incarcerated parents together, in the holistic work of many of our investments. It is critical in how we move forward from here.

Implications with COVID-19:

COVID-19 and the shutdown adds just another layer of stress and complexity. How can we heal holistically during and after COVID-19?

The so what:

Healing is not a self-centered act or a luxury. This is part of taking seriously the work of liberation. Taking seriously the idea of self-determination and fullness of potential in every human.

In our investing, we are focused on healing of adults who support young people, their families, our communities.

We are holding space in our personal interactions and many texts, calls, Zoom calls, messages with partners for breathing, and for love. This was always the case, but all the more important now.

Click here to download the six principles.

2019: A Look Back

A Year of Backing the Fight

Since day one, Chicago Beyond’s work has been rooted in backing the fight for Chicago’s youth – from investing in innovative ideas to tackling systemic injustices that affect young people nationwide. And 2019 was no different.

This year, we published Why Am I Always Being Researched? and challenged power dynamics that get in the way of true impact for young people. We invested in the mental wellness of youth experiencing parental incarceration, and young men experiencing trauma, and built a new space – Chicago’s Home for Social Innovation.

All of these examples and more would not be possible without supporters like you, who also back the fight for creating a more equitable city for all young people. Please take a glance at our past year in the video above.

Thank you for being a part of the fight for Chicago’s youth – here’s to 2020 and beyond.

We Are Here. Chicago’s Home for Social Innovation.

Chicago's Home for Social Innovation.

Chicago Beyond’s new space in the Fulton Market neighborhood was designed to serve the public in its openness to contemplation and conversation. It is a space that amplifies unlikely voices, radically reimagines individual participation in our collective liberation, and seeks to unabashedly stand for our youth.

We hope what transpires in our space and beyond calls out injustice, calls in equity, and points the way toward a more fair and just future. A future that is embedded in the radical understanding that “I am not free until you are free.” And we all deserve to be free.

In the bustling hub of the new development in the West Loop, our new space symbolize the idea that we are here and we all belong.

Watch the short video above to learn more about our new space!