In a victory for Voices of Youth in Chicago Education and other education advocacy groups, the Chicago Board of Education has voted to eliminate two-week out-of-school suspensions for minor offenses. This is a milestone in the movement to end harsh school discipline policies in Chicago, though VOYCE members emphasize there's still a long way to go in eliminating policies that disproportionately affect students of color and drive them down the school-to-prison pipeline. 

VOYCE has worked relentlessly over the past year to raise awareness about the effects of harsh discipline policies and to convince policymakers and school administration officials to change the Chicago Public School Code of Conduct. They rallied outside Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office, held press conferences, published Op-Eds and participated in radio interviews.

Read more about the reform on VOYCE's website. And click here to read a powerful Op-Ed from VOYCE student leader Jasmine Sarmiento. 

And click here to download the OTL Toolkit on School Discipline and learn what you can do to end harsh discipline policies in your school.