Education Not Incarceration Final Report (PDF)
LESSON: Take Back Our Schools
Help Students Understand Their Role in Creating Equitable Schools (PDF) On May 17, 2005, we taught in the streets of Oakland and in the schools! In honor of the historic verdict Brown v. Board of Education, which promised equal public education for all on May 17, 1954, a growing tide of youth, educators, parents, union members, citizens and community organizations are calling for an end to the destruct takeover of the Oakland schools.
LESSON: The Word Bank
Exploring Education and Incarceration (PDF WORD) A complete lesson plan for discussing issues of education, fairness, incarceration and funding. Lessons are provided for all grade levels, K-2; 3-5; 6-8; and 9-12.
LESSON: Connecting Education and Incarceration Issues
Teach In and Speak Out (PDF WORD) Activities for K-2 classrooms (including material suggestions and vocabulary) by examining what is government; looking at spending; and how students can speak out.
LESSON: The Prison Myth
Exploring the Myths and Truths About the U.S. Prison System and the Impact on Our Communities (PDF WORD) This workshop provided by SOUL can easily be tailored for K-12 students. The workshop is intended to be a full day, but many of the exercises can be used individually. For additional copies, contact SOUL at soul@youthec.org.
LESSON: What’s Going Down in Our Schools?
Understanding Who Benefits and Who Suffers in Our Schools (PDF WORD) This workshop provided by SOUL can easily be tailored for K-12 students. The workshop is intended to be a full day, but many of the exercises can be used individually. For additional copies, contact SOUL at soul@youthec.org.
LESSON: Letter To A Legislator
Bill Sheet (HTML PDF WORD) Lists and describes specific bills related to education and Crime/Prison bills for students to choose and focus on.
Field Trip To Legislator’s Office Preparation Worksheet (HTML PDF WORD) Helps students organize necessary background and contact information.
Letter to a Lawmaker (HTML WORD) Helps students organize their ideas for writing letters to lawmakers.
Sample Letter to a Legislator (HTML PDF WORD) Provides a model letter to help students in drafting their letters
LESSON: The Education Gap
Guided Reading Questions (HTML PDF WORD) Questions for SF Chronicle opinion piece “The Education Gap.”
SF Chronicle Op Ed. Piece (HTML PDF WORD) “The Education Gap.”
What Did Proposition 13 Do? (HTML PDF WORD) Explains six basic changes to Prop 13 made to the State of California’s constitution.
LESSON: Social Math
Social Math Problems (HTML PDF WORD) Two math problems involving graphs and statistics comparing tax cuts and spending.
LESSON: Yes In My Backyard
Video: Yes in My Backyard can be used either in Economics or Government classes to prepare students to discuss proposed alternatives to education budget cuts, or the analyze the impact of PACs and economic conditions on the legislative process.
Short Lessons with links (HTML PDF WORD) Economics, Statistics, and Government questions to use with the video.
Yes In My Backyard note-taking sheet (HTML PDF WORD)
Conact information on how to get the video forthcoming…
LESSON: Discussing Budget Issues
Preparing Students to Discuss Budget Issues (HTML PDF WORD) Outlines three lessons - a debate, a study of alternative approaches to making budget cuts, and a “revise the budget” lesson.
“National Study Shows High-Stakes Testing May Have Detrimental Effects on Students” From the California Teachers Association website.
“Debunking Myths About Standardized Testing” The Educational Testing Service’s own response to critiques of standardized tests!
A Plan to Save the State $1 Billion Critical Resistance’s piece outlining how prison spending cuts can save California money.
LESSON: State of California Budget Basics
Online Resources with Study Guide WORD PDF
Supplemental Drawings/Handouts These five drawings can be used for lessons about California’s budget and prison spending. They are black and white PDFs, 81/2 x 11. These posters are courtesy of Trevor Paglen, a graduate student in the Department of Geography at UC Berkeley. Contact Paglen at Trevor@paglen.com.
Delano II – This drawing shows how much it will cost to build the Delano II prison and the amount of interest on the bonds that California’s taxpayers will have to pay.
Spending – This drawing shows the percentage increase in prison spending compared with spending on education.
Populations – This drawing shows how many people are expected to go to prison in 2004 vs. how many community college students will be unable to attend college due to fee hikes that were imposed after budget cuts.
Cost – This drawing shows how much money is spent per prisoner vs. per pupil.
Question – This drawing asks the question, “What Would You Do?”
Supplemental Reports
Back to the Community: Safe & Sound Parole Policies (November 2003), by the Little Hoover Commission Executive Summary PDF; Full report PDF
Hard Time: California’s Criminal Justice Build Up & Its Consequences (April 2003), by the Liberty Hill Foundation PDF
Education & Incarceration (August 2003), by the Justice Policy Institute PDF
Leave No School Behind: Educational Inequality and the Importance of Protecting Oakland’s “Flatlands” Schools from Teacher Layoffs (April 2003), by Oakland ACORN and UCLA/Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access PDF
Developing an Equity Impact Statement: A Policymaking Tool, by the Praxis Project PDF
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K-12 Curriculum with Internet resources
Excellent collection of lessons