Parents Organize San Jose Educational Forum
by Alexandrea Martinez & Daniela Muna, Parent Leaders
As Rocketship parents, we are excited to be part of the parent leader group planning a San Jose education forum with local candidates to learn about their approach to education in our community on October 6, 2014.
Monaoh poses with his parents Daniela and Vince on his first day of Kindergarten.
To engage in an authentic dialogue about local education issues, we’ve invited candidates for San Jose mayor, Alum Rock Union School Board and Santa Clara County Board of Education. We already have five candidates confirmed, including mayoral candidates Dave Cortese and Sam Liccardo.
As parents, we are our children’s best advocates. Planning and organizing this forum is the perfect opportunity to continue to build power for parent voice on behalf of our children. It also shows our ability to come together on important issues. By engaging our elected officials and inviting them to take part in this type of event, we can develop a working relationship with elected officials to build a stronger, safer community for our kids and families.
We are personally involved in planning this forum because we have seen first-hand the effect politics can have on our school system from our experience organizing to open Fuerza Community Prep. We both spent hours meeting with school board members from the Alum Rock district and from the County Board of Education to urge them to support parent choice and open Fuerza. We need to continue making progress and ensure sure our elected officials continue to hear our voices.
Adam at his preschool graduation party with his parents Adrian and Alexandrea.
It is not often that we as parents get to sit with candidates running for office who represent our city and school boards, asking them important questions about issues that matter to us as a community.
We hope San Jose families leave the forum with a better understanding of the candidates and their views on education so that they can make informed decisions when they vote on Tuesday, November 4.
Parents are in a position to have a real influence on local government and to hold our elected leaders accountable for working to close the achievement gap. The only way to eradicate the “us vs. them” attitude that has been prevalent between districts and charter schools is for parents to push our elected leaders and our communities to work together.
If we work together as parents – as members of our community – along with our elected officials, our kids will haven nothing standing in their way. Our goal is to have one thousand parents, teachers and school leaders at the forum on October 6. We hope to see you there!
San Jose Education Candidates Forum
When: Monday, October 6, 6:30pm
Where: Mexican Heritage Plaza (1700 Alum Rock Ave)
RSVP Today!
Forum Organized by Parents Leaders From:
For more information, contact Alicia Ross at Rocketship aross@rsed.org | 877-806-0920 ext. 220 or contact Marie Moore at PACT at mariemoore@pactsj.org | 408-998-8001. This is not an open forum and all candidates will be sent the questions in advance. This forum is for voter education purposes only. Supporting organizations do not endorse candidates.
Published on September 15, 2014
Read more stories about: Parent Experience.
