Restorative Justice in Chicago Public Schools—what does it mean for the City of Chicago? Fri Jun 29, 2007 at 9:21 AM
Robert Spicer
Program Director, Community Justice for Youth Initiative


On June 27, 2007, the Board of Education of the Chicago Public Schools ratified significant changes to the Student Code of Conduct which included Restorative Justice as the new discipline philosophy. This is a huge win for the city schools as they are beginning the dismantling of the school-house to jail-house pipeline which has seen thousands of our youth suspended, expelled or even arrested for behavior seen as “criminal”.

I believe that our city is ready for restorative justice as a means to engage our youth in a meaningful way. Restorative Justice is a philosophy that seeks to bring together all of the stakeholders (victim, offender, and community) to work together to address the harms and needs of those affected by a harm. Restorative Justice also seeks to engage the community in the process and to give a voice to the victim. Youth who committed the offense is obligated to repair the harm and to begin the process of restoring relationships through this process. This process has been successful through our Community Panels for Youth program which was the first Juvenile Court Diversion program based in restorative justice. It was through this program that we realized that a large amount of arrests were done in the schools. This prompted us to redirect our focus and work with others to share this philosophy with the Chicago Public Schools.

For so long the policy of zero tolerance was thought to make our schools safe but it has only criminalized our African-American and Latino students. So what does this mean for our city schools to embrace restorative justice as a discipline philosophy for our schools? What does it mean for my 7 year-old son who goes to a Chicago Public School and my friends and family who work for CPS? What does it mean for the hundred of thousands of youth who are enrolled in our public schools? These are question that I ponder. Our communities are searching for ways to find the answers to these questions. Our children are looking for ways to be apart of the solution by volunteering, getting involved in peer juries, working with organizations all throughout the city that are seeking peaceful ways to deal with issues surrounding our youth. I am confident that restorative justice is the vehicle toward the path of peace and social justice in our schools and communities.