Strategy & Steps – Every Child Education Equity Project

Educate and develop awareness of how trauma and the toxic stress of poverty inhibits learning.
Share what the science of trauma is now telling us is the solution: that individualization of education is the key, that a paradigm shift is necessary, if we as a society want to educate all of our children, and not just some.
Create a “Child Find” obligation for children with high adverse childhood experiences (“ACEs”) and an associated right to individualized education.
Develop a broad-based support for this movement within the East St. Louis Community – using East S.t Louis as a pilot, as the foundation for a subsequent national push for the same.
Eliminate the racial achievement gap – caused by the structural racialization of poverty, coupled with this failure to educate children suffering from the toxic stress and trauma of poverty in a way they can actually learn.

Create an Attorney Organizer position to lead the project.
Gather information and experts:
- To provide expertise and white paper on toxic stress/trauma as it relates to learning/education and the necessity of individualizing education.
- To provide expertise and white paper on economics of a paradigm shift, cost of individualizing education versus cost of lost potential/prison costs later.
Complete legal research for litigation possibilities with existing law.
Partner with Join Hands ESL and the Ubuntu Center for Peace, supporting their Kingian Nonviolence education efforts to grow the nonviolent army being formed, working with those trained to share the information gathered from experts.
Provide outreach to and develop a coalition of organizations and individuals in East St. Louis to support the campaign. Identify leaders.
Reach out to legislators, both federal and state. Find partners to draft and push legislation that would enshrine in law a “child find” obligation and a right to individualized education for children suffering from high “ACEs” as a result of the toxic stress and trauma of poverty.
Use the strategies of Kingian Nonviolence Organizing to raise awareness with direct action rallies and vigils. Use media, marketing, and PR to draw attention to the issue.