Fighting Injustice, Supporting Our Youth
The costs of dropping out of school are great. Students who do not graduate from high school have a higher risk of living in poverty, being unemployed, having poor health or ending up imprisoned. For our most underserved youth, a diploma provides a valuable advantage: the opportunity to create the future they want and deserve.
Since we began in 1974, the Student Advocacy Center of Michigan has been fighting injustice in our educational system alongside students and parents. When a student faces conflict at school, having someone who cares — someone who knows the system — can make the difference between staying in school or being pushed out.
When we work together to make sure students stay in school, everyone wins.
“Student Advocacy Center helped to get me back in school…. I feel more hopeful knowing I have a chance of catching up and completing my last three years of high school.”
Jordan, 15 years old
Understanding Injustice in Education
3x
Black students are suspended and expelled at a rate three times greater than white students.
Source: Civil Rights Data Collection
2x
Students with disabilities are twice as likely to receive an out-of-school suspension as their nondisabled peers.
Source: Civil Rights Data Collection
14%
Students who are suspended or expelled are 14 percent more likely to drop out of school.
Source: Civil Rights Data Collection
Read Our Anti-Oppression Statements
NEWS
Harsh discipline persists in Michigan
More students faced school removals of 60 days or more last year and worse, more students faced removals of 180 days or more. We continue to see persisting inequities in who is removed and who is provided the lesser interventions required by state law. Worse, we know...
Annual Story Drive create opportunity to help Detroit area students write their next chapter
You may know that SAC opened its Detroit office more than a decade ago because too many children were shut out of school for extreme lengths of time. People like YOU stepped up to say enough is enough! Our children must get an education. Today, we continue to fight...
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