A Call for All California Schools to be Sanctuaries
Californians for Justice signed an open letter with 120 organizations urging California education officials to ensure that no school concedes to cooperating with the new Trump administration in raids, deportation and the profiling of immigrants. With 20 years of fighting for Racial and Educational Justice, we have been here countless times. We encourage you to join…
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It’s our duty to fight, it is our duty to win
As many of us struggle to make sense of the 2016 election results and it’s implications for our communities we wanted to offer up some positive news of the victories for racial and educational justice in California that were possible because young people organized and turned out to vote. These victories are a reminder that we…
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Victory for School Climate: Making the Invisible VISIBLE
Last month, California adopted a new way of grading schools, also known as the LCFF Evaluation Rubric. This marked an end to an over-reliance on test scores as part of the No Child Left Behind era, and a new opportunity to #RedefineSchoolSuccess. Throughout 18 months of deliberations on the LCFF Rubric, Californians for Justice student…
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20th Anniversary Youth Leadership Series: Introducing Francisco Cortez
Californians for Justice was the defining moment for me where I realized that I could make a difference in my community. Before Californians for Justice, I was shy and quiet. I wasn’t sure that I had what it takes to be a leader. Leaders can stand up in front of a room and talk to…
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Calling on our schools to VALUE all students
Californians for Justice launched the Student Voice Campaign in 2014 with one goal – for student voices to be heard, valued, and reflected in their schools. Our recent wins– from equitable school funding to more fair discipline policies have created an opportunity for great change in our schools. But before we can close the opportunity…
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Californians for Justice Wins Student Advisory Committees
Student leaders have achieved an incredible feat in the last year. In four districts across the state, students have fought for, and won the creation of student led budget decision-making bodies within their districts. In some regions, students are breaking ground in the state, piloting projects California schools have never tried. In Long Beach, Oakland,…
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United Voices for Change
When students and adults are empowered to lead, our schools thrive. On May 16th, almost 100 students and adults representing 17 grassroots organizations, education associations, and unions filled the room for Cal Justice Talks: United Voices for Change to launch a movement where students and adults continue to flip the frame by working together to…
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Royals Rise Up! Participatory Budgeting Comes to San Jose
“This is going to affect Overfelt in a positive way. I think it will inspire students to make more democratic decisions like voting in the future. Most of our youth of color vote at low rates, and this will inspire them to see how it benefits themselves and the nation.” – Brisa Rojas, Overfelt High Student, PB Steering…
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A Vision for Student Voice
by Reginald Quartey, CFJ Student Leader This is my vision of student voice: It is a place where quality teaching isn’t a person reading from a textbook verbatim , going to a counselor isn’t just because you want to change your class, and a student doesn’t have to feel like they aren’t learning because there…
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