United Women in Faith will join the Dignity in Schools Campaign and allied organizations for the 2026 National Week of Action Against School Pushout on October 17-25. This is a special time of the year when we recommit ourselves to the work of interrupting the school-to-prison pipeline and ending school pushout.
We invite United Women in Faith members and friends to learn, act, and/or lead during the National Week of Action Against School Pushout by planning to participate in one or more of the following activities.
Learn.
- Watch Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools. Throughout the National Week of Action Against School Pushout, we will be offering a special link to watch Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in School at no cost.
- Read stories from movement leaders in Lift Us Up, Don't Push Us Out!: Voices from the Front Lines of the Educational Justice Movement. Borrow the book from your public library or purchase it directly from a local bookseller. If you are not able to find the book locally and the cost is prohibitive, please let us know by reply email and we will send you a complementary paperback or e-book.
Act.
- Advocate for The Ending PUSHOUT Act from your home. Commit to email and call your Senators and Representative to ask them to cosponsor The Ending PUSHOUT Act if they have not yet done so. We will send another email with a live "act now" link at the start of the Week of Action so you can easily take action from your phone or computer.
- Join a local, in-person action, if you can. If you live near a local Dignity in Schools Campaign member organization that is hosting an in-person action, please join and show your support!
Lead.
- Plan a United Women in Faith Day of Action Against School Pushout in your community, church, or unit sometime between October 17-25, 2026. You can focus nationally and encourage calls and/or emails to support The Ending PUSHOUT Act, The POSSA Act, or The Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act and/or you can uplift a state or local effort that advances policies and practices to interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline and stop school pushout. If you would like help planning your local action, please reply to this email to set up a one-on-one coaching call.
- Apply for a seed funding grant to support your unit, district, or conference work to "Influence to Interrupt" the school-to-prison pipeline in the coming year. Click here for more information. All applications are due by September 30, with final funding decisions made shortly prior to the week of action.
This content was originally published by United Women in Faith; republished with permission by ResourceUMC on September 29, 2026.