Arresting Youth: A Case Study of Abolition and Policing in K-12 Schools in the United States

This project aims to situate ending policing on campuses in K-12 education alongside broader social movements. How does the school reform movement connect to broader policing reform efforts in the US? Specifically, who are the key organizations or voices leading the movement in schools, what opportunities or barriers have shaped their efforts over time, and how does this connect to the work of other social movements in the US? Through interviews with frontline activists and school officials this thesis builds an analysis from critical race theory and the intellectual tradition of police abolition to examine the movement to end police presence at schools. The very presence of police on campuses impacts how and for whom schools are situated as a space for building communities of trust.