“There Is No National without the Local”

Chapter 3 charts the development of the movement to dismantle the school-to-prison pipeline as a national movement with deep local roots. It documents the beginnings of the movement in places like Holmes County, Mississippi, where African American parents first raised the alarm. It shows how national actors played important roles in spreading local victories, while both strengthening local organizing and working to influence federal policy. It discusses the struggle in the Dignity in Schools Campaign to create a coalition in which community groups would have a majority say and keep the coalition focused on supporting local organizing rather than Washington politics. It charts the movement’s victories, shifting discourse away from zero tolerance and getting the federal government to issue guidelines warning against zero-tolerance discipline. These victories became resources to groups in local- and state-level campaigns, creating a rolling series of policy wins across the country.