Stand With Great Public Schools

By Rocketship Public Schools

The statewide debate in California about proposed education policy changes has overwhelmingly ignored the voices and interests of families in underserved communities. That is why on Friday, June 7th, 2019, more than 2,500 parents, teachers, and students came together to “Stand With Great Public Schools” in downtown San José.

 

“We believe ALL schools should be great public schools,” said Parent Leader and Event Organizer Lety Gomez. “My youngest daughter attends Rocketship Fuerza Community Prep, where she is receiving a strong educational foundation. As a group of parent leaders, we are asking our local representatives and state legislators to stand up and defend high-performing public schools, regardless of whether they are public traditional or public charter schools.”

Organized by parent leaders from Rocketship and other high-performing public charter schools, the event was designed to teach area students about the importance of civic engagement and showcase how public charter school families, students, and staff are helping improve educational equity and excellence across the City of San José.

 

 

“Growing up, I know that my parents didn’t have much choice. It was either the school across the street or nada,” said Deacon Ruben Solorio, President of Sacred Heart Nativity schools and father of two daughters who attended charter schools. “One of the things that helped with these public schools — these public charter schools — was to give our families a choice, just like many affluent families in our communities that get to choose between private schools, Catholic schools, Christian schools, Harker Academy, Stratford Academies and many choices they have.”

 

“Without my public charter school, I know I wouldn’t have the opportunity to pursue higher education,” said Alpha Public Schools Senior Mariela Gonzalez. “In my community, only 3% of the workforce in Silicon Valley tech companies like Google, Amazon, and Facebook are Latinos. Yet there are 3 million Latinos living in California. I am proud to stand before you here today and tell you that you are looking at a future Latina Engineer who is going to UC Santa Cruz!”

 

Thank you to everyone who came out to support great public schools! Together, we are eliminating the achievement gap and fighting for equity in public education.

 

Check out media coverage of the event from San Jose Spotlight, KPIX CBS, and Telemundo.

 

 

 

 

 

Published on June 11, 2019