The Conflict Center is happy to announce that our organization supports Black Lives Matter 5280’s “Black Lives Matter At School” week of action and set of demands. The four demands are:

1. Ending zero-tolerance policies and replacing them with restorative practices
2. Hiring and mentoring Black educators
3. Mandating Black history education and ethnic studies for preK-12 classrooms
4. Funding “counselors not cops”

These demands align with our advocacy, especially highlighting restorative practices and shifting funding priorities as being crucial to our work. For thirty years, The Conflict Center has worked to implement approaches such as restorative practices, which serves as a critical tool for navigating conflict in schools and in the community and as a way to avoid harmful disciplinary policies and practices that have disproportionately impacted Black students and families. The Conflict Center supports these demands and the local chapter, Black Lives Matter 5280, in their efforts to lead in accomplishing these important efforts in schools. We encourage our community and educators to reference further action requested from Black Lives Matter 5280 and to utilize their educational resources to further support Black Lives Matter At School during the week of February 4-8 and beyond.