Blog Layout
Danielle Blocker • September 28, 2020
We Demand that SROs be Removed from Our Schools!
An Open Letter to Councilmember Will Jawando signed by a coalition of organizations
Monday, September 28th, 2020
Dear Councilmember Jawando,
Since protests erupted across the U.S. calling for an end to rampant police violence, it has become clear that the last place police should be is in our schools. Students, parents, and teachers deserve schools that are safe, accepting, and compassionate spaces for children. Children should be free from the inordinate and excessive punishment and policing that occurs when police are in schools.
No study has ever found that police presence decreases violence in schools, and the data show that in Montgomery County, Black students, students of color, and disabled students are excessively over-policed and arrested at higher rates than their white and able-bodied classmates. It is time to end the practice of policing in our schools and remove school resource officers (SROs) permanently.
Since May 25th of this year, unceasing protests across the country have been calling for lasting change to end violent, racialized brutality at the hands of police. This may be the strongest call to end racial injustice in our lifetime. The issues being addressed in this historical moment are urgent and demand decisive, lasting change. They require the permanence of law, not a temporary budget savings measure that can be easily reversed. We must not let this moment pass without making lasting changes to our systems of policing. That is why we are calling on you to propose a bill to the County Council to remove SROs permanently from Montgomery County Public Schools.
The call to remove police from schools is being heard across the country. Already in Minneapolis, Denver, Milwaukee, and Portland, Oregon, school systems have ended their contracts with police and voted to phase police out of schools. It is time for Montgomery County to step up and take action.
We have seen you join the protests and sympathize with our calls for action. We know that you understand the disproportionate and adverse effects school resource officers have on Black students, disabled students, and students of color. This moment we find ourselves in is a historic window for change. Do not let this moment pass without making this decisive change to give our children safer, more equitable schools.
ACLU MD, Montgomery County Chapter
ACLU of Maryland
Asian American Progressive Student Union
Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition
Bonimot Tzedek (Justice Builders)
CASA
DC Teens Action
Hear Our Voices MoCo
Jews United for Justice
Maryland Coalition to Reform School Discipline
Maryland Poor People’s Campaign
MoCo Against Brutality
Moms of Black Boys United for Social Change
Montgomery County Democratic Socialists of America
Montgomery County Racial Equity (MORE) Network
Montgomery County Students for Change
Muslim Public Affairs Council
Muslim Voices Coalition
Progressive Maryland
Public Justice Center
Racial Justice NOW! DMV Chapter
Showing Up for Racial Justice - Montgomery County, MD
Silver Spring Justice Coalition
Sisterhood of Salam Shalom
Students Toward Equitable Public Schools
Takoma Park Mobilization-Equal Justice Committee
Young People for Progress
Youth Creating Change
Youth For Equity
