TRENTON -- Trenton's teachers union is hosting a forum on institutional racism in hopes of coming up with solutions to address the inequities found in schools.
The meeting will be held on Thursday, Feb. 23. It's the third stop on the union's "listening tour." The first two were held in October and November and covered what institutional racism is and issues facing the city's immigrant population.
"Now we're going to try to move forward on things we can address -- policies, practices we can address to break down these barriers and advance social justice as much as we can," said Naomi Johnson-Lafleur, president of the Trenton Education Association. "We often talk about where we are and issues, but it's time for us to collectively get to some solutions."
She said those could include better training for students, faculty and staff and rethinking zero-tolerance discipline policies that she says lead to a school-to-prison pipeline.
The forum "allows parents and community members a place to have a voice where it's non-threatening," Johnson-Lafleur said. "We're hoping when it comes to different groups, it will lead to more organizing within the city itself around education issues so that we can come together, build some coalition and get some work done."
Next week's session will begin with a 4 p.m. dinner followed by a panel discussion at 5 p.m. in the district's administration building, 108 N. Clinton Ave.
Panelists will include Jitu Brown, national director of the Journey for Justice Alliance; Mark Weber, a teacher and education blogger better known as Jersey Jazzman; and Paul Perez, a city activist and founder of Partnerships for Trenton.
Fifty high school students will be part of a discussion on the same topic earlier in the day.
The event is sponsored by TEA, New Jersey Education Association, the city's PTA/PTO and the National Association of Urban Education Associations.
For more information or to register, email teaoffice@verizon.net or call 609-396-0016. Childcare will be provided for children ages 3 and older.
Cristina Rojas may be reached at crojas@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @CristinaRojasTT. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
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