Last Friday, 60,000 people in Seattle and even more across the state gathered with Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County (BLMSKC) to march in protest of racially motivated police violence and to demand that our state and local government make deep, systemic changes.
Today we are promoting the fourth of five demands from Black Lives Matter Seattle-King County (BLMSKC). You can find the full list of demands on their website at https://blacklivesseattle.org/our-demands/. Each of these demands includes a handy link for directly emailing your elected officials.
Please note: This list of demands may look familiar because we told you about all five of these demands last week, but we think that BLMSKC’s demands are important enough to break them out individually to make sure that you are indeed contacting all of your elected officials.
BLMSKC has a list of detailed demands that address the following five needs: defund the police, emphasize community wellness, reform the justice system, stop the new youth jail, and dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline. After showing up in person, we are asking you to build on the success of the march by contacting your representatives using BLMSKC’s one-click emailing tool to demand action.
We must erase the educational inequities that harm Black youth from Day One. In Seattle, we demand:
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Permanent dismantling of the school-to-prison pipeline.
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Removal of police from school campuses, including student resource officers.
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An end to Behavioral Modification classification for Black and Brown children.
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Student-led creation of a Student’s Bill of Rights that centers the needs of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and ESL students and students experiencing homelessness, as well as students with special needs.
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Equitable and full funding for districts across Washington state to provide:
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Free full-time preschool and kindergarten for all Washington children;
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Recess, PE, and music instruction;
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Technology access for all students, including one-to-one laptops for middle school and high school students by 2025;
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A full-time nurse in every school.
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Improved graduation rates for all children, including and especially BIPOC students.
TODAY’S ACTION: Demand the dismantling of the school-to-prison pipeline and the full funding of education by a capital gains tax by 2021
Please email Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction Chris Reykdal and his office’s Communications and Community Outreach team to demand that we dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline and fully fund education:
[email protected], [email protected]
Script from BLMSKC
Hi, I live in Seattle in {ZIP CODE}.
Washingtonians will no longer tolerate the racism that is built into our institutions.
We demand dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline and fully funding education by a capital gains tax by 2021. We must erase the educational inequities that harm Black youth from Day One. In Seattle, we demand:
* Permanent dismantling of the school-to-prison pipeline.
* Removal of police from school campuses, including student resource officers.
* An end to Behavioral Modification classification for Black and Brown children.
* Student-led creation of a Student’s Bill of Rights that centers the needs of Black, Brown, Indigenous, and ESL students and students experiencing homelessness, as well as students with special needs.
* Equitable and full funding for districts across Washington state to provide: Free full-time preschool and kindergarten for all Washington children; recess, PE, and music instruction; technology access for all students, including one-to-one laptops for middle school and high school students by 2025; and a full-time nurse in every school.
* Improved graduation rates for all children, including and especially BIPOC students.
