California’s public schools are key to reducing crime

By Castle Redmond and John H. Jackson, especially for CalMatters

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In a recent State of the State address, Gov. Gavin Newsom highlighted data showing that gun violence in California fell to a record low in 2025, with declines in every major crime category.

Oakland recorded its fewest homicides since 1967; Los Angeles, the fewest since 1966; Fresno also hit a 50-year low. And this progress has occurred alongside measurable improvements in young people’s well-being.

A major reason this is happening is that communities in California – and the nation – are campaigning to replace systems of punishment in the first place with systems of support and healing.

They fought to dismantle the “school-to-prison pipeline,” expand educational opportunities, and end mass incarceration. They won hundreds of state and local policy victories that invested in youth and families to create safe, thriving schools and neighborhoods. We are now seeing the fruits of these efforts.

California’s historic investment in community schools was one of those victories. This year, we have the chance to lock in those gains and build on them by making our investment in public schools permanent.

Public schools are fundamental

The community school is a public school that serves as a neighborhood center, combining academics with health and youth development services. It builds strong partnerships with families, community organizations and local authorities to meet the needs of the ‘whole child’ and strengthen the surrounding community.

In 2021, California launched the $4.1 billion Community School Partnership Program, which now covers more than 2,500 schools. It is guided by the California Public Schools Framework, which prioritizes mental health and restorative justice.

The first major evaluation of California’s public schools found clear impacts after just one year: chronic absenteeism dropped 30 percent, suspensions dropped 15 percent, and academic achievement rose, with black students and English learners receiving the equivalent of at least 50 additional days of instruction.

The movement behind profits

Improvements outside of school are no accident either. They are the result of more than two decades of youth and family campaigns that have changed California’s approach to education, community safety and youth well-being – part of what many are calling the Civil Rights Movement of the 21st century.

Communities most affected by violence and mass incarceration organized to stop both. They forced the government to shift hundreds of millions of dollars from youth prisons and school policing to youth development, employment, mental health and healing.

In Los Angeles, coalitions such as Brothers, Sons, Selves; the Dignity in Schools campaign and LAUSD’s police freedom secured major victories, including a school climate bill of rights in 2013. In 2021, they won tens of millions of dollars for a black student achievement plan, dream centers for immigrant youth, and support for LGBTQ+ students — instead of more school police.

At the same time, the Los Angeles Youth Uprising Coalition helped move tens of millions more dollars from county probation to a new department of youth development. Communities in California have run similar campaigns. The organizers who built this work deserve credit for today’s progress.

What the data shows Los Angeles just recorded its safest year in decades; the crime rate has dropped. Imprisonment rates and police budgets are also falling.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Unified School District posted the highest test scores in its history. And students achieve more while being suspended less. School suspensions have decreased by 80% in LAUSD since 2012. Statewide, suspensions have been cut in half and test scores are up.

Communities have shown that we can create safety and well-being without fueling a school-to-prison pipeline and mass incarceration.

California’s investment in community schools has produced transformative results, but the funding is temporary. In his State of the State address, Newsom proposed an additional $1 billion in current funding. This is a critical investment.

We applaud the governor for taking the initiative to make funding for community schools — and the California Framework — permanent. The future of our youth and our country depends on it.

This article was originally published on CalMatters and is republished under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives license.