END THE POLICE MANDATE IN SCHOOLS

Pass SB 1273

Decades of research show that even minimal contact with law enforcement causes long-term harm to young people.

And yet, California law mandates that educators call the police on students for certain behavior, denying educators the flexibility to decide how to handle each situation and exposing students of color to unnecessary contact with police.

These mandates were first instituted in the 1990s, as a result of the racist “tough on crime” rhetoric, which has led to Black, Indigenous, and students of color being pushed out of school and denied their right to an education.

The impact of these laws falls most heavily on students of color and students with disabilities. For students who are Black, Latinx, of color, and those with disabilities, the consequences of police being called are severe: they are more likely than white students to be cited or arrested. And calling the police on students can have life-long consequences: students who are impacted by the legal system are less likely to graduate high school, and more likely to be pushed into the school to prison pipeline.

SB 1273 empowers educators, protects students, and restores educator discretion by:

Eliminating state mandates for school notification of law enforcement, thereby empowering schools to adopt non-punitive, supportive, trauma-informed and health-based approaches to school related behaviors.
Increasing educator discretion in determining when to notify law enforcement about a student’s school related behaviors.
Eliminating prosecution of school staff who fail to report incidents of alleged assaults or physical threats against school employees.
Eliminating the criminal penalty for “willful disturbance” of public schools and public school meetings.

We need your help to restore flexibility to educators so they can decide when law enforcement should be notified. Ask your state senator to vote YES on SB 1273!

Message Recipients:
Your California State Senator

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Your Message

Subject Support SB 1273 (Bradford)

I’m writing in support of SB 1273 to make several needed changes to our existing law that mandates how school officials choose to notify law enforcement. This bill will eliminate overreaching and outdated state mandates for school notification of law enforcement, thereby encouraging schools to adopt non-punitive, trauma-informed, and health-based approaches to school-related behaviors.

Message Body

SB 1273 will keep students in school by increasing educator discretion to decide how to handle student misbehavior and by protecting students from unnecessary contact with the youth or criminal legal system. I urge you to support this bill.

Sincerely,

[First Name] [Last Name]
[Your Address]

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END THE POLICE MANDATE IN SCHOOLS

Pass SB 1273

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