Take Back OUR Schools Day 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 15th, 2007
Contact:
Raquel Jimenez (Director of Programs) (510) 703-4825
Sagnicthe Salazar (Youth Organizer) (510) 812-1426

Website: http://www.organizedabay.org http://www.myspace.com/organizedabay


Email: rjimenez [at] youthtogether.net

STANFORD ‘GETTING DOWN TO FACTS’ STUDIES AND LOCAL STUDENTS AGREE: FUND OUR SCHOOLS FUND OUR FUTURE
Local students, teachers, community members hold press conference & rally to commemorate Brown v. Board to highlight continuing inequality in school finance & demand funding reform

[Thursday, May 17th, HERCULES] “51 years after the Supreme Court promised an end to ‘unequal’ education, many students in Richmond, Oakland, and San Francisco are still subjected to gross inequalities in their schools. The purpose of this press conference is to let the world know the experts agree with what students have been saying for more than a decade: Fund our schools!”, explains Raquel Jimenez, director of programs for Youth Together, an organization dedicated to reforming public education.

The state school finance system has a formula for distributing funds among school districts based on their enrollment, not on need. The “Getting Down to Facts” Stanford studies on school finance released in March, confirm that the state must increase education funding by at least 40%, and direct those resources to schools in most need. “The reality is that our schools are not equal. It is not a coincidence that high failure schools are also Williams schools, that is, schools that are ‘under-performing’ or ranked a 1 or 2 on the Academic Performance Index and have the highest rates of CAHSEE failure, are also the schools that 1) face the largest teacher shortages or large amounts of long-term substitutes, 2) have textbook shortages or books in poor condition, and 3) continue to house students in deplorable or hazardous school grounds and facilities.”, adds Jimenez.

Since the state has raised academic standards in compliance with federal mandate No Child Left Behind, the Stanford studies on school finance recommend that the state align school finance with academic standards. Local students, parents, teachers, and principals agree, “We need a new funding system that takes into account what individual schools need for their students to achieve the high standards set by the state.”, says Maureen Benson, principal at Youth Empowerment School, in East Oakland.

“Jack O’Connell, the Governor, and the state legislature have our children’s future in their hands. If they really care about our communities, they will fully fund our education, so that we will see more students educated and less young people on the street, at war, or dead.”, says Sagnicthe Salazar, Coalition Organizer of Organize Da Bay Coalition, a Bay Area youth coalition that lead walkouts against the Exit Exam in 2006.

Students are demanding that elected leaders fully fund schools with 1) a Weighted Student Formula that directs more resources to the neediest students (Poor students, Special education students, English Language learners, and Undocumented students), 2) more Tachers of Color, 3) Access to A-G courses, and Counselors, 4) Ethnic Studies, and 5) Wrap Around student care services.

PRESS CONFERENCE & RALLY – Thursday, May 17th, 2007
Press Conference 3:00PM-4:00PM Hercules MS/HS * 1900 Refugio Valley Road, Hercules
Student Rally 4:00PM-5:00PM Hercules MS/HS * 1900 Refugio Valley Road, Hercules

Invited Politicians: (Partial list: Governor Schwarzenegger, State Superintendent Jack O’ Connell, Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums)
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