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Tyler Whittenberg

Chief Counsel, Justice System Reform
tyler@scsj.org

Tyler Whittenberg joined Southern Coalition for Social Justice in 2020 to lead the Justice System Reform program. Prior to joining South Coalition for Social Justice, Tyler was Deputy Director of Advancement Project’s Ending the Schoolhouse-to-Jailhouse Track project. In this role, he supported grassroots campaigns led by youth of color fighting to end the criminalization of Black and Brown students and create learning environments that are reflective of the world they envision for themselves.

Tyler’s entire career has been dedicated to ending the school-to-prison pipeline and dismantling oppressive structures systematically imposed upon Black and Brown youth. He began his career as an 8th grade social studies teacher in Columbia, South Carolina. He then received a masters degree in Politics and Education from Teachers College, Columbia University, focusing on school-to-prison pipeline issues and the growing effort to privatize public education. Tyler subsequently advocated for students’ rights as an Education Policy Fellow with the North Carolina Justice Center’s Education Law Project.

Tyler graduated from Tulane University Law School after completing an Ella Baker Fellowship with the Center for Constitutional Rights. Throughout law school, he co-directed Stand Up for Each Other (SUFEO)—a student-led organization representing youth who were suspended and expelled from public schools in New Orleans. For these efforts, Tyler was awarded the Louisiana State Bar Association’s 2014 Student Pro Bono Award. Tyler also advocated for the rights of youth in the justice and foster care systems as a Staff Attorney with the Youth Law Center and helped jurisdictions throughout the U.S. reduce racial and ethnic disparities in youth-serving systems while a Site Manager with the W. Haywood Burns Institute.

Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Partnering with communities of color and economically disadvantaged communities in the south to defend and advance their political, social and economic rights through the combination of legal advocacy, research, organizing and communications.

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Youth Advocacy Organization Launches Campaign Urging Durham Public Schools to Provide Equal Opportunities for All Students

January 13, 2021 by Staff Focus Area: Youth Justice Project

Press Contact:
Michelle Rash
mrash@rlfcommunications.com
336-823-5501 (mobile)

Durham, N.C. — The Youth Justice Project (YJP) of the Southern Coalition for Social Justice launched a coordinated effort to end the school-to-prison pipeline and achieve educational justice in Durham Public Schools (DPS). The #LiberateToEducate campaign envisions a future in which students of color attend schools that lift them up, provide spaces focused on improving students’ mental health, and create greater academic and cultural inclusion with the support of governmental initiatives, teachers, and administrators.

During the 2019-20 school year, DPS spent over $1 million for 22 School Resource Officers (SROs) to police 17 of the district’s schools. The students of the Youth Justice Project feel that money could be better spent by improving the educational environment, especially for students of color.

“SROs are costly, ineffective and harmful to students and their learning environment. Rather than improve safety, research demonstrates that placing police in schools negatively affects school climate,” the #LiberateToEducate policy platform says. “Instead of ensuring safety and improving behavior, police presence often increases disorder among students by diminishing the authority of school staff. In fact, the increased presence of school security, including SROs, has been associated with increases in suspension and expulsion for Black students and greater discipline disparities between Black and White students.”

Although research confirms that Black students do not misbehave at higher rates than their White peers, Black students represent only 44% of DPS student enrollment but received 76.4% of all short-term suspensions and 86% of all school-related entries into the criminal justice system, according to the Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s Racial Equity Report Card.

The #LiberateToEducate policy platform calls for DPS to:

1. Remove police from schools and end the contract with the Durham County Sheriff’s Office.

2. End the use of exclusionary discipline and fully implement school-wide restorative justice programs.

3. Liberate the school environment with more choice in course selection and ending academic tracking.

4. Require all schools to implement culturally relevant curriculums.

5. Establish mental health spaces and safe spaces for LGBTQIA+ students in schools that are available during and after school hours.

The #LiberateToEducate campaign is the latest in a series of efforts demanding to end discriminatory practices and create safer environments that enhance school climate and safety and improve student social and emotional behavioral functioning.

“Students are most impacted by the policies and practices used, not just in Durham Public Schools but across the nation—the push for students of color out of school and into the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems,” said Tyler Whittenberg, Chief Counsel for Justice System Reform with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice. “It’s exciting to see youth take the lead in working to dismantle the old system and offer positive suggestions for creating a more inclusive environment where all students receive the education and support needed to thrive.”

Key Contact

Tyler Whittenberg, Chief Counsel, Justice System Reform
tyler@scsj.org

Category iconYouth Justice

 
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"We wanted to encompass the other four demands of the Wake County Black Student Coalition, because it's not just about policing, but it really is about what the schools need to do to make students of color feel safe and supported."@t_whittenberg @Scalawag bit.ly/2Yk5M47

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