Sacramento, CA - Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) is a proud supporter of the 1300 Campaign, an initiative led by Improve Your Tomorrow (IYT), the Sierra Health Foundation, My Brother’s Keeper Sacramento, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. The Campaign aims to send an additional 1300 young men of color (YMOC) to Sacramento State and UC Davis by 2025. At the board meeting on January 13, 2022, the board members considered and approved a resolution proclaiming their support of the Campaign’s 9-point policy plan, which aims to eliminate barriers for YMOC in attaining a college education.

The resolution commits to making Ethnic Studies courses a graduation requirement (starting with the class of 2022-23) to foster cross-cultural understandings of the diverse ethnicities that have contributed to the history of the United States, and hiring an additional 13 counselors who are representative of student demographics. It also includes the district’s ongoing cross-departmental efforts to draft a plan to increase college eligibility rates for students across the district, particularly among underrepresented subgroups of students. These efforts will help build a sense of belonging for young men of color and help provide academic and social support for them on their quest to attain a college education.

The 1300 Campaign is working alongside SCUSD in their ongoing efforts to establish a steady pathway towards college attainment, such as improving high school readiness for middle school students transitioning to the 9th grade, working with the Los Rios Community College District to provide dual enrollment opportunities for high school students, and providing mental health support for struggling students which aims to ensure that students have an equal opportunity to graduate and attain a postsecondary education.

“Sac City Unified’s guiding principle of equity, access, and social justice led us to the 1300 Campaign, and together we will work to make deep-rooted change in our community,” said Christina Pritchett, Board President, Sacramento City Unified School District Board of Education. “We are committed to provide young men of color with the greatest number of postsecondary choices from the widest array of options.”

Through partnerships with the Los Rios Community Colleges, Sacramento State University, and the University of California, Davis, the 1300 Campaign seeks to permanently transform the Sacramento region by creating an equitable pipeline for more young men of color to obtain college degrees. Research shows that YMOC with college degrees are 38 times less likely than their peers without degrees to be incarcerated. It is also widely known that individuals who obtain a college degree generally have expanded access to job opportunities, increased earning potential, economic stability, and a better quality of life.

“For far too long, young black and brown youth have continuously faced barriers toward attaining a college education and continue to do so. By engaging with the 1300 Campaign and adopting a resolution that seeks to address these barriers, Sacramento City Unified School District acknowledges the systemic inequalities young men of color face, and will build upon their previous work in dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline,” said Michael Lynch, Co-Founder and CEO of IYT. Continuing, Michael stated, “On behalf of the partners of the Campaign and everyone at IYT, I want to thank the Sacramento City Unified School District board members and Superintendent Aguilar for committing to remove systemic barriers that hinder our young men of color in reaching college.”

The 1300 Campaign is a targeted policy campaign working towards dismantling the school-to-prison pipeline. To learn more about the 1300 Campaign, please visit www.1300campaign.org and www.scusd.edu/1300campaign.