For Immediate Release
April 4, 2023
WASHINGTON – In a year in which threats to public education were characterized by backlash to progress on racial justice; attacks on curricula that center and celebrate identity – including book bans; attacks on LGBTQIA+ students; and backtracking on commitments to move away from police and policing tactics in school safety, the Communities for Just Schools Funds (CJSF) today released its 2022 annual report. The report, which is written as a resource guide for those on a journey toward educational environments that are holistically safe, detailed that amid intense attacks on public education, the organization exceeded its best-ever grantmaking year and directed $5.3 million to the education justice movement.
“Our work in support of our partners’ leadership has always been important, but given the unprecedented attacks on the communities we serve, on educators, and on public education overall, the work we do takes on increased significance,” said Jaime T. Koppel, co-director for CJSF. “Resourcing and collaborating with the grassroots leaders whose work and demands are the heart and soul of the education justice movement, and doing so in ways that invite our colleagues in philanthropy to authentic, sustained relationship with grassroots organizers is more critical than ever. The core issues our partners have been organizing around for decades have not changed – positive school climate, holistically safe schools, racially just schools – but the threats continue to grow and so our support for this work must do the same.”
The Communities for Just Schools Fund harnesses the resources of philanthropy with grassroots organizing to ensure that schools welcome and nurture all students, allowing them to meet their full potential. CJSF funds organizations that change schools and the system of education through community organizing. It provides multi-year general operating support to 80 grassroots organizing groups in 25 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, and Washington, D.C.
In 2022, CJSF grew the partner network by almost 25%. “Our partner network, which is largely Black, brown and multiracial-led grassroots organizing groups, now includes more groups in the south, more educator organizer groups, and more groups explicitly led by and focused upon building the leadership and uplifting the demands of trans and queer youth,” said Marianna Islam, Director of Movement Partnerships.
As schools reopened, CJSF also stepped back out into the world and hosted a learning exchange focused on supporting partners’ efforts to develop an affirmative vision for how culturally sustaining pedagogy is a crucial ingredient in holistically safe schools. This convening, which was part of a larger community of practice, is part of the organization’s commitment to build narrative power around a comprehensive vision for holistically safe schools.
“While this is often not measured or prioritized, we are proud to have been intentional in holding space for healing and holistic wellness,” Briana Perry, Director of Liberatory Learning & Capacity-Building said. “We know that our communities experience myriad intersecting oppressions, and it was important for us to be intentional about creating spaces for healing as well as spaces for joy. We will continue to deepen our commitment to investing in collective healing and our partners showing up in their full humanity.”
To view the full 2022 annual report, visit: https://cjsfund.pub/2022annualreport
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