Oakland youth march for police-free schools

Oakland youth march for police-free schools

Chanting "no justice, no peace," young protesters led a march through Oakland, California on Tuesday to demand police-free schools.

Gloria Tso reports.

Chanting "no justice, no peace," young protesters led a march through Oakland, California on Tuesday (June 22) to demand police-free schools.

The protest is part of 10 days of action leading up to a vote on Wednesday, where the school board will weigh a measure to reallocate police funds toward student support positions.

Those include social workers, psychologists, mental and behavioral health professionals.

About 60 protesters marched to a youth center in East Oakland to demand support for the resolution.

Jessica Black is director of the Black Organizing Project, which coordinated the protest.

"Children don't need to be criminalized for being children.

Schools were supposed to be places where children could learn social skills.

Schools and community, so what we're really pushing is we're pushing the institution of policing out and we're saying bring community in." School systems across the U.S. are under pressure to remove police and school resource officers from their campuses, part of a broader push for policing reforms following the killing of George Floyd.

Defenders of the school police say they have special training to de-escalate tensions and protect campuses from outside threats, such as mass shootings.

The Oakland resolution, named after Floyd, will also require a new safety plan for schools.