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Idea of the
Week
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April 2001
Dear Educational Activists:
Over the past several weeks, we have been talking to people involved at the grassroots level in trying to improve conditions and opportunities in California public schools.
It’s no surprise that students, parents and teachers across the state are doing great work in their schools and local communities. In the course of our conversations, a couple of points have emerged: First, everyone understands that some problems with schools cannot really be fixed at the local level. Teacher shortages and classroom overcrowding, for example, seem to require statewide solutions. Legislation pending in Sacramento would have significant effects at the local level, as may the class action lawsuit against the State brought by civil rights groups. Special interest groups have a strong voice at the statewide level; but grassroots groups are not well represented in these discussions.
Second, many of the grassroots groups doing creative, effective, inspiring work within local communities are interested in what similar groups are doing in other communities around the state. In the course of our conversations, many people told us that they thought it would be a good idea for people working at the grassroots level to develop better means of staying in touch, both about their own local struggles, and about statewide issues that affect people in every community.
In response to the ideas and concerns we heard, a group of us at UCLA (in the Institute for Democracy, Education and Access at the Education School, and the Program in Public Interest Law and Policy at the Law School) are hosting a gathering of people working on issues of substandard schools in California. We see the gathering as a day of dialog among grassroots organizations and activist students and parents: a chance to learn what others are doing, and to consider whether and how people might want to stay in communication. The agenda would ultimately be decided by those attending. But based on our preliminary conversations, we see some of the following as among the things participants might do:
o help formulate the contents of a Bill of Rights for California’s students, specifying what every student in California has a right to expect, as a focus for working together
o learn more about current legislative proposals that will affect public education in your communities
o learn more about the class action case against the State and discuss the kinds of remedies that would be most effective in dealing with the problems faced by students in your communities
o attend workshops on lobbying techniques and media strategies
Please come to our forum on April 21, 2001, at UCLA. See the enclosed flyer for more information and contact information, and please feel free to copy and distribute the flyer to any interested organizations.
Best,
UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education and Access (IDEA), and
The Program in Public Interest Law and Policy, UCLA School of Law
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