Like the majority of Cities, Public Schools Are Overpoliced

Like Cities, Public Schools Are Overpoliced

Sonali Kolhatkar speaks with Judith Browne Dianis.

The Los Angeles Unified School District on Tuesday failed to come to agreement on a proposal to slash police funding in public schools by 90%.

The proposal, brought by board member Monica Garcia laid out a 50% cut for next year, followed by a 75% cut the year after, and 90% the year after that.

The funding freed up by police would go toward support services for Black students.

But school board members did not have the appetite for such a move even though the nationwide demand to “Defund the Police” in US cities has gained political traction.

US public school budgets are often dominated by armed law enforcement officers at the expense of teachers, counselors, nurses and support staff.

Advocates of defunding school police point out that while the justification for a police presence was to prevent mass shootings, in reality, police have simply replicated in school what they do on the street: criminalize and violate black and brown people.

For more information visit https://wecametolearn.com and keep an eye out for www.Policefreeschools.org.

Rising Up with Sonali is a radio and television show that brings progressive news coverage rooted in gender and racial justice to a wide audience.

Rising Up With Sonali was built on the foundation of Sonali Kolhatkar's earlier show, Uprising, which became the longest-running drive-time radio show on KPFK in Los Angeles hosted by a woman.

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