URL: http://www.abqjournal.com/opinion/guest_columns/262135407338opinionguestcolumns06-26-09.htm
Friday, June 26, 2009
Become Active Again in Children's Education
By Lorenzo L. Garcia
APS School Board
My parents believed in, and supported public education. They knew first hand of its value. As the youngest of six siblings,the idea of obtaining one's high school diploma was a core value in my family and in my neighborhood.
Mom attended school through the fifth grade, and my father attended school through his elementary years.
My mother left school at age 10 in order to work cleaning houses with my grandmother for, as she described them, some good Anglo families. Later in life, she would tell how much she cried about having to leave school to scrub floors and prepare meals for these good people who would allow her to take leftovers home. Her father had died. In those years there was no program like Social Security to support a surviving spouse and her two children.
My dad learned to read with his aunt, who taught him by using the Bible. For him, a daily ritual was reading the Albuquerque Journal from cover to cover.
As a young person, my mother would review my homework with me every night, even when she did not understand it.
My parents voted in every school board election. My father believed this was the most important election for our communities. This year, I ran and was elected to the APS School Board representing District 3.
The issues selected were that APS must:
â– Build a plan to systematically address the dropout rate;
â– Implement a plan for cultural competency;
â– Increase community involvement so schools become part of our neighborhoods once again;
â– Pay livable wages, starting with educational assistants.
We are making progress to address these disproportionate outcomes, as mentioned in the letter by Jose Armas, Karen Sanchez-Griego and Adrian Pedroza of the Latino/Hispano Education Improvement Task Force, published in the Journal on June 19.
We have a good public school board in Albuquerque. Our administrative leadership is exemplary. And still, we need your help.
We must build both the organization and the capacity to establish a culture that builds upon the best practices to address these emergent needs. As a community we must demonstrate our collective will by implementing policies that value education.
This will require that people get involved on many levels. We must become active again; active in our children's education, active in our neighborhood schools, active voters in each election.