The California Endowment has awarded a $200,000 grant to the Equal Justice Society to improve the social and emotional health of youth by reducing the use of harsh discipline and increasing the use of positive, trauma-responsive practices throughout California.
The grant will allow EJS to explore the development of a statewide network of schools model dedicated to examining the interplay of implicit bias and structural racism in schools. The network will be used to disrupt harm to students through structural racism and rebuild school cultures with protective factors promoting health and healing.
EJS will also create a platform for organizing and equipping progressive educators, specifically with tools to help them take a stand on education issues (including school discipline) in their district, county, and state from an explicit racial justice perspective.
The initiative will ensure a strong and cohesive infrastructure by centering mind science concepts such as structural racism, implicit bias, racial anxiety, stereotype threat, the impact of trauma on learning and healing, in addressing disproportionate discipline.
“We’re humbled by the support from The California Endowment for this new initiative,” said EJS President Eva Paterson. “Funders like TCE are validating our efforts to combat the school-to-prison pipeline through a deeper understanding of implicit bias and other mind science phenomena.”