100 signatures reached
To: Board of Nashville Public Education Foundation
Don't let a Private Prison CEO run Nashville Schools
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Remove Damon Hininger, CEO of private prison corporation Core Civic, from NPEF board and reassess NPEF criteria for board membership to exclude private prison executives.
Why is this important?
Nashville Public Education Foundation (NPEF) says it exists to strengthen our public schools, but CoreCivic has a track record of aggressive privatization and undermining public safety of the prisoners, staff, and visitors in the facilities they manage. CoreCivic’s private prisons are grossly understaffed, creating a dangerous environment for both officers and prisoners, resulting in excessive use of force and a lack of basic security. Last year, a scabies outbreak in the CoreCivic-run Nashville jail was so poorly contained that dozens of employees and over 100 prisoners contracted the virus. In addition, CoreCivic is one of the main corporate backers of ALEC, an extreme right-wing lobbying group that has pushed for longer and harsher sentences, leading to higher rates of mass incarceration and increasing CoreCivic’s occupancy - and profits. CoreCivic, run by Hininger, and ALEC have lobbied aggressively for harsher immigration laws, in order to fill profitable new jails with thousands of immigrants, including the notorious “baby jail” where CoreCivic incarcerates refugee children on the Texas border. Both CoreCivic and their partner ALEC have a track record of pushing the privatization of public services––including education–– in direct conflict with the stated mission of Nashville Public Education Foundation.
We know that the School-to-prison Pipeline is a devastating effect of private prisons. Through “zero-tolerance” policies and increasingly harsh policing of public school campuses, schools criminalize children––especially if they are black, brown, and poor. It is clear that CoreCivic has much to gain from board membership with NPEF. What do our children have to gain from CoreCivic?
NPEF didn’t acknowledge any of this in its news release announcing CoreCivic’s CEO will be sitting on their board. In fact, the news release didn’t even say what CoreCivic is, only describing it as “one of the largest employers in the Nashville area.” We know better, and we think NPEF CEO and President Shannon Hunt knows, too. We will not let our children be casualties of CoreCivic’s rebranding effort.
(In 2016 Corrections Corporation of America rebranded as CoreCivic.)
ACTION 1: SIGN THE PETITION and SHARE IT.
ACTION 2: CONTACT NASHVILLE PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION AT 615-727-1515 AND SHARE YOUR CONCERNS.
*Sample script: Hi, I’m ___________, and I am concerned that CoreCivic’s CEO is now on the board of NPEF. CoreCivic is a private prison corporation that profits off of a booming incarcerated population. I am not comfortable with anyone from CoreCivic being at the table with a foundation that serves public school children. What do the CHILDREN OF NASHVILLE have to gain from Damon Hininger and your partnership with CoreCivic? Please remove Damon Hininger from the board of the Nashville Public Education Foundation.
Or, TWEET @NashvillePEF
ACTION 3: CONTACT OTHER BOARD MEMBERS.
Let them know you’re opposed to Damon Hininger sitting on the board of directors. Find out who they are here: http://nashvillepef.org/leadership/
LEARN MORE ABOUT CCA/CORECIVIC:
About staffing and safety problems in a Louisiana CCA prison: “My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard.” Mother Jones, July 2016.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-corrections-corporation-inmates-investigation-bauer/
“Can an alarming lawsuit filed by an inmate without a lawyer effect change inside prisons?” Nashville Scene, March 2016.
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/article/13063670/can-an-alarming-lawsuit-filed-by-an-inmate-without-a-lawyer-effect-change-inside-state-prisons-one-prisoner-is-going-to-try
“Memo: More Medical Problems than Scabies at Metro Detention Facility.” Nashville Scene, August 2017.
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pith-in-the-wind/article/20972167/more-medical-problems-than-scabies-at-metro-prison-memo-alleges
About the recent state audit that found CoreCivic engaged in “continued noncompliance” of staffing and safety requirements in the new Trousdale state prison in Middle Tennessee: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/14/tennessee-private-prison-operated-by-corecivic-blasted-ongoing-problems-new-state-audit/858884001/
About the Republicans’ bill in the Tennessee legislature to cut CoreCivic’s state contracts due to dangerous mismanagement: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/17/tennessee-republican-files-bill-aimed-ending-private-prison-usage-state/1036061001/
ACLU infographic on the School-to-prison Pipeline: https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/school-prison-pipeline-infographic?redirect=infographic/school-prison-pipeline-infographic
About the business of imprisoning immigrants and the relationship between CoreCivic and ALEC: “Immigrants for Sale”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ20tIYirKg
Article on CoreCivi’s “baby jail” for incarcerating refugee children and mothers in Texas:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/inside-the-administrations-1-billion-deal-to-detain-central-american-asylum-seekers/2016/08/14/e47f1960-5819-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html
We know that the School-to-prison Pipeline is a devastating effect of private prisons. Through “zero-tolerance” policies and increasingly harsh policing of public school campuses, schools criminalize children––especially if they are black, brown, and poor. It is clear that CoreCivic has much to gain from board membership with NPEF. What do our children have to gain from CoreCivic?
NPEF didn’t acknowledge any of this in its news release announcing CoreCivic’s CEO will be sitting on their board. In fact, the news release didn’t even say what CoreCivic is, only describing it as “one of the largest employers in the Nashville area.” We know better, and we think NPEF CEO and President Shannon Hunt knows, too. We will not let our children be casualties of CoreCivic’s rebranding effort.
(In 2016 Corrections Corporation of America rebranded as CoreCivic.)
ACTION 1: SIGN THE PETITION and SHARE IT.
ACTION 2: CONTACT NASHVILLE PUBLIC EDUCATION FOUNDATION AT 615-727-1515 AND SHARE YOUR CONCERNS.
*Sample script: Hi, I’m ___________, and I am concerned that CoreCivic’s CEO is now on the board of NPEF. CoreCivic is a private prison corporation that profits off of a booming incarcerated population. I am not comfortable with anyone from CoreCivic being at the table with a foundation that serves public school children. What do the CHILDREN OF NASHVILLE have to gain from Damon Hininger and your partnership with CoreCivic? Please remove Damon Hininger from the board of the Nashville Public Education Foundation.
Or, TWEET @NashvillePEF
ACTION 3: CONTACT OTHER BOARD MEMBERS.
Let them know you’re opposed to Damon Hininger sitting on the board of directors. Find out who they are here: http://nashvillepef.org/leadership/
LEARN MORE ABOUT CCA/CORECIVIC:
About staffing and safety problems in a Louisiana CCA prison: “My Four Months as a Private Prison Guard.” Mother Jones, July 2016.
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/06/cca-private-prisons-corrections-corporation-inmates-investigation-bauer/
“Can an alarming lawsuit filed by an inmate without a lawyer effect change inside prisons?” Nashville Scene, March 2016.
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/article/13063670/can-an-alarming-lawsuit-filed-by-an-inmate-without-a-lawyer-effect-change-inside-state-prisons-one-prisoner-is-going-to-try
“Memo: More Medical Problems than Scabies at Metro Detention Facility.” Nashville Scene, August 2017.
https://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pith-in-the-wind/article/20972167/more-medical-problems-than-scabies-at-metro-prison-memo-alleges
About the recent state audit that found CoreCivic engaged in “continued noncompliance” of staffing and safety requirements in the new Trousdale state prison in Middle Tennessee: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2017/11/14/tennessee-private-prison-operated-by-corecivic-blasted-ongoing-problems-new-state-audit/858884001/
About the Republicans’ bill in the Tennessee legislature to cut CoreCivic’s state contracts due to dangerous mismanagement: https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2018/01/17/tennessee-republican-files-bill-aimed-ending-private-prison-usage-state/1036061001/
ACLU infographic on the School-to-prison Pipeline: https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline/school-prison-pipeline-infographic?redirect=infographic/school-prison-pipeline-infographic
About the business of imprisoning immigrants and the relationship between CoreCivic and ALEC: “Immigrants for Sale”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ20tIYirKg
Article on CoreCivi’s “baby jail” for incarcerating refugee children and mothers in Texas:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/inside-the-administrations-1-billion-deal-to-detain-central-american-asylum-seekers/2016/08/14/e47f1960-5819-11e6-9aee-8075993d73a2_story.html