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Every day decision-makers prioritize spending on things they feel are important. We see this play out in schools which prioritize security, surveillance, and punishment over overall development of young people to be their full self. This is especially true in working class, Black and brown neighborhoods. In almost all schools, police and security personnel heavily outnumber the therapists and mental health professional available in schools. At the same time, suicide is the 3rd leading cause of death in youth ages 10-24. 50% of students 14 and older with mental illness drop of out of high school.
We see this as a one of the glaring examples of our schools not being structured to meet the full needs of our students.
Students are often disciplined before their needs at home or school are met. We must rethink the way students are disciplined and pushed out of schools. We believe ending suspensions and the implementation of restorative justice is one way to address this. Ultimately, we know reinvesting dollars to support teachers and student supports long term can ensure schools do not allow students to get caught in the snare of a criminal justice system that maximizes profits over young people being able to have the tools to fulfill their utmost potential.
As a way to more towards this vision, Our Divest from Punishment, Invest in Students (DPI$) is a youth committee fighting for the community to have a say in the Miami Dade County Public Schools (MDCPS) budget process, where the district takes the millions of dollars spent on policing and security and reallocate it on the following:
If you are a student, teacher, or community member who is interested in getting involved, please contact Jabari Mickles at Jabari@Poweru.org and/or Keno Walker at Keno@PowerU.org.
