As high school students of John Marshall, we are writing to you today to express the urgent need to correct systemic racism starting in educational institutions. We would like to address certain issues that have been brought up by Marshall students and have yet to be dealt with by administration. We believe that the school must take the necessary measures to ensure that all students feel welcomed and safe at Marshall by changing the curriculum and culture at our school. As one of the most diverse schools of LAUSD whose student body has experienced the effects of systemic racism, we empathize with the experiences that other BIPOC students at other school campuses around LAUSD are continuously struck with. We hope that you take these demands into consideration for the future of Marshall, LAUSD Schools, and our country. 

1. Mandatory Faculty and Student Reading and Appropriate Ways to Carry It Out

-Transition to an anti-racist curriculum that provides students knowledge about the roots of systemic racism and its impacts today. Our current textbooks and curriculums often ignore or provide a watered-down history of racism in America. In 2015, a textbook provider Marshall uses, McGraw-Hill, called slaves “immigrants” and “workers”. This is just one example of why we must implement mandatory outside sourcing of material discussing the history of racism as we can not rely on our current curriculum that is dominated by Eurocentric content. 
-Using LASP budget in order to fund for educational resources that would include eliminating racist historical books that prep students for AP examination, and instead use authentic book/resources
-Topics and readings should include (1) Police Brutality; readings: The Black Panther Party’s 1966 Platform, 1963 March on Washington statement and demands, Black Radical Congress’s “Contemporary Police Brutality and Misconduct” 2001 article. (2) History of Racism; readings: key figures Medgar Evers, Ella Baker, and Ida B. Wells, Film 13th directed by Ava DuVernay (3) International Human Rights; readings: 1947 U.N. Document “An Appeal to the World” (4) Militarization of the Police and mass incarceration; readings: the New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness by Michelle Alexander, Are Prisons Obsolete? By Angela Davis (5) Housing and Wealth Inequality, Gentrification, and Displacement; readings: “Burning Tulsa: The Legacy of Black Dispossession” by Linda Christensen, “the Making of Ferguson” by Richard Rothstein
-Recommended Reading List for Teachers/Students: 
Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison; This Bridge Called My Back by Rosario Morales; White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo; I Am Not Your Negro by James Baldwin; If Beale Street Can Talk by James Baldwin; Beloved by Toni Morrison; A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn (recommended by College Board for AP US History) ;Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates; A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki; By Any Means Necessary: Speech by Malcolm X and Simon Starr; Born a Crime by Trevor Noah ; Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko;  Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; Kindred by Octavia Butler; The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy; In the Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez; Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson; The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde; The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

We demand that our educators are knowledgeable on these topics otherwise we will not be able to change our current education system that dehumanizes Black people and perpetuates racism. We demand this material to be taught to students in a manner that challenges White supremacy and racist myths, inaccuracies, and stereotypes. 

2. Safe Space Meetings

-As previously discussed, students need a safe environment within a classroom setting in order to talk about prevalent issues taking place in society that may directly or indirectly affect the communities they are part of. These environments need to be inclusive to the diverse student body held on campus and need to be moderated by a teacher that is well trained on how to properly carry out conversation and not overstep boundaries (which would mean that teachers/faculty would need adequate training described in one of the demands later). 
-Teachers must be able to create a framework for discussion in order to maintain and direct focus. Many of the topics to be discussed might be sensitive and controversial to some and therefore will require detailed objectives and guidance. Beforehand, teachers will also need to address ground rules in order to establish how discussions should be held amongst students and what the intended outcome of each discussion should be. 
-Furthermore, in order for discussion to be appropriately held, there should be guidelines on how to lead and manage discussion. This includes following steps below: (adapted from Ronald Hyman, 1980, In Improving Discussion Leadership)
Examining and developing positions on issues of social policy, university policy, or social convention.
Identifying a core problem underlying social conflicts and exploring possible answers to the problem.
Analyzing the root causes or reasons for a social conflict (i.e., a past-oriented discussion).
Exploring possible consequences or implications of a conflict (i.e., a future-oriented discussion).
Planning effective actions to reduce such incidents and/or to support vulnerable populations.
-These safe space meetings can be held during advisory sessions, however, that is simply not enough time to administer these meetings and have a thorough discussion where all voices are heard. This is proven to be true since advisory periods are utilized for sharing important school information with students often. Therefore, these safe space meetings need to be implemented within the subject curriculum, especially humanities based subjects such as History, English, and Ethnic/Socio studies. 
-Wellness students, who are properly trained, can help teachers facilitate these sensitive topics in order to ensure that these topics are properly addressed in classes. 

3. Send Out Important Messages About Issues on Schoology

Schoology should be used as an important tool to facilitate sharing of important information, current events, and resources. It would be useful if a section on schoology allocated to different class periods, can be assigned to the safe space meetings where important discussion topics and summarization of meetings are noted for students to review and also furthermore comment on. Students can periodically check the safe meetings period on schoology to be updated on issues that might affect their communities or their peers’ communities and ensure that they are informed about issues taking place and how to effectively either handle them or be an ally to those who are facing them. 
For students who might be faced with social conflicts/issues that are discussed within meetings, there should be an abundance of resources on schoology that cater to their needs. This would not only require addressing the issues revolving around the communities at school but would mean that counseling and other forms of help are offered so that students’ emotional and mental wellbeing is attended to. Counseling information should be on the safe space meetings section on schoology, where students can readily be offered help and schedule sessions to address their concerns since many students are unaware of how and where to access counseling help. 

4. Teacher/ Faculty Accountability

-Ensure transparency in how administration holds teachers accountable. Make not only the LAUSD protocols accessible but also Marshall’s individual plan to address and correct inappropriate behavior available to students, faculty, and parents. This should be featured on the website and announced at the beginning of every new school year where the information can be accessed.
-When a group of students addressed the matter of teacher accountability with the principal during a zoom call meeting, it was mentioned that individual complaints are handled by the principal himself rather than having the teacher go through a specific protocol handled by administration. Therefore, to ensure that the Marshall administration is holding teachers truly accountable for racist and inappropriate behavior, we demand an official protocol to be published and for that information to be widely accessible. 
-Additionally, we demand an “anonymous complaint” pdf template to be published on the website for students who wish to report about their negative experiences with a specific teacher/ faculty member with an option for an restorative justice with an outside facilitator

5. Teacher/Faculty Training

3,265 incidents of hate or bias at schools in the US was reported according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Bias in educational institutions is a nationwide problem and we must begin to confront and correct these biases in our classrooms, starting with our educators. 
- Meetings must be held to address teachers and counselors that contribute to anti-black, racist, and homophobic sentiment inside and outside classrooms, promoting an insensitive, ignorant, and uncomfortable environment for students that does not allow them to engage in discussion and assignments, be themselves, and feel respected. We demand for teachers and faculty to affirm Black identity in the classrooms by using appropriate language and terminology. We as students can not begin to discuss race without trust and faith in those who lead our classrooms. 
Material to reflect on: Jane Elliot’s 18 point “Commitment to Combat Racism” checklist, Teaching for Black Lives published by Rethinking Schools, “A Talk to Teachers” by James Baldwin, “Some Considerations When Working with LGBT Students of Color” from GLSEN, “A Guideline for Teaching Controversial Topics” by the Morningside Center
- Some resources for readings and teaching materials: https://docs.google.com/document/d/18SMwaDf_-MLV8yLsjPKG30JPJJeQrcLvlPMvUQsgJ7E/edit
- A Los Angeles based educator, Liz Kleinrock, is a great resource for our school moving towards becoming a more anti-racist instution and we demand that our school’s funds be used for more anti bias and anti racist educators and presenters
https://www.teachandtransform.org/

6. Campus Police vs Counselors Solving Issues: Deescalation 

Marshall had 58 total referrals to law enforcement via https://projects.propublica.org/miseducation/school/062271003171 (data gathered from National Center for Education Statistics, US Dept. of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, Stanford University’s Center for Education Policy Analysis, EDFacts, US Dept. of Education’s Common Core of Data) in 2015-2016 school year
- District average: 10; state average: 2.9 
- Defining “referrals to law enforcement”: the number of times a school staff member referred a student to any law enforcement agency, including school police units, for incidents that occur on school grounds or during school-related events, regardless of whether an action is taken by law enforcement. Referrals may include citations, tickets, and arrests
Though we have made some progress since the 2015-2016 school year, we demand that Marshall makes a greater shift from discipline policies to a focus on restorative justice in order to combat the national “school to prison pipeline” trend. Studies have shown that students who are suspended are more likely to repeat a grade or drop out than students who were not and that discipline is disproportionately taken on Black and Latino students. 
The  Zero Tolerance Policy was removed by the LAUSD board because it was regarded by the American Psychological Association as particularly detrimental towards the academic and behavioral progression of students of color and serves as an “exclusionary discipline for students of color and students with disabilities.” However, there continues to be a high rate of calls made to the LAPD indicating that it is used as an alternative to the Zero Tolerance Policy via https://www.citywatchla.com/index.php/2016-01-01-13-17-00/los-angeles/17849-student-discipline-still-a-problem-at-la-schools 

7. Discussing the Use of the N-word by Non-Black Students & slurs towards LGBTQ+ students

Outline a policy for use of such offensive profanity especially those directed towards minority groups in the Barrister Code of Conduct. The current 2019-2020 school year version of the Barrister Code of Conduct only states “Respecting others and treating them with courtesy”. By not specifically addressing the slurs and profanity used by students, the school administration is effectively demonstrating to the student body their lack of concern for such behaviors. 
Dedicate more than 2 lines in slide 5 of the Marshall Discipline Presentation (58 slides total) to addressing the use of the N-word. Currently the slide reads “Please refrain from - using the “N” word or any other version of the word”. 
We also call on the school administration to address use of other offensive words frequently used on campus such as the r-word and slurs directed at the LBGTQ+ community. 

8. Dress Code that Discriminates Black/Brown/Muslim students

 Looking into Marshall’s dress code: 

1. No bandanas or hair nets are permitted on campus 
2. Hats, beanies, caps, and any other headgear cannot be worn in classrooms. (Including durags)
3. No articles of clothing that advertise, depict or glorify alcohol, tobacco, drugs, obscenities, violence, illegal activities, gangs or prison life. 
4. Chains must be connected from the belt loop to the wallet. Chains that can be used as a weapon will be confiscated. 
These policies specifically targeted students of color and many BIPOC students have felt targeted and discriminated against by these dress code policies. Additionally, school policies mandating certain hairstyles that should be/should not be worn on school grounds is highly offensive to BIPOC students that culturally have worn those hairstyles and/or need to. We demand that dress codes be inclusive to all types of students from a multitude of racial/cultural backgrounds and could hinder students’ mental health. 
Students of diverse religious affiliations should feel comfortable to wear religious attire to school without being prohibited by school administration and intentionally berated for it. 
Thank you for helping us fight for a better future.

Sincerely, 

Angelenos for Floyd