Established in 2011, FedSDC is a diverse group of local community organizers, national and local organizations, and  local organizations, and directly impacted students, youth, and families committed to advocating for federal legislative action to protect the interests and educational rights of Black and Brown students and youth through racial and educational equity lenses. 

At the heart of our work are the voices of directly impacted people, students, and groups on the ground including disenfranchised youth and students disproportionately impacted by racist and exclusionary school discipline policies, criminalized by schools, and dehumanized by adults and law enforcement alike in schools. These voices drive our the coalition’s priorities and play a pivotal role in shaping our agenda with local, state and federal agencies, officials and legislators, We work to hold the federal government accountable and to ensure the centering students not systems, advancing racial equity and justice, and addressing racism and discriminatory policies and practices in the work across 1) federal funding and grants, 2) research and data collection, 3) civil rights enforcement, 4) legislative action; 5) and convening power.

Our mandate is clear; to end the criminalization of Black and Brown students by eliminating the school to prison and deportation pipelines, eliminating exclusionary school discipline polices and supporting the full inclusion of students of color and disabilities in a positive and healthy PoliceFreeSchool environment. As well as, advancing policy that aligns with what communities have indicated is necessary. We seek to achieve this by not only holding the federal government accountable, but by reversing racist policies within the U.S. Department of Education. FedSDC challenges harmful bills introduced and passed in Congress that are rooted in a white supremacist doctrine designed to discriminate against Black and Brown students, and exclude them from accessing a culturally relevant, healthy and positive education.

Specifically, we unapologetically support and are committed to efforts that upend policies and practices rooted in white supremacy that continue to harm students and youth of color in our nation’s schools that include:.seek to 1) remove all police from schools, and help establish PoliceFreeSchools as a condition for the creation of holistically safe and supportive schools; 2) address discriminatory policies and racist laws that harm Black and Brown Students in K-12 and higher Education settings; 3) eliminate the criminalization of youth in schools; and 4) give agency and space to directly impacted students, youth, families, local organizing groups and smaller community organizations to sit at federal policy tables.