Newest articles on The Sacramento Press tagged as "public schools"

150-Mile Non-Stop Education Run Culminates on State Capitol Steps

2010-05-18T16:03:42Z

150-Mile Non-Stop Education Run Culminates on State Capitol Steps

Students, parents, teachers and supporters who ran a 150-mile non-stop day-and-night relay from San Carlos to Sacramento to invite lawmakers to spend a day in a public school finished their journey yesterday, Monday, May 17, with a rally on the steps of the California State Capitol Building. Event participants included Assemblymember Ira Ruskin, State Senator Gloria Romero, and Assemblymember Tom Torlakson; the latter two are candidates for California Superintendent of Public Instruction. Following the rally, the group fanned out to deliver their invitation letters to the state’s lawmakers. Participants in the “Spend 1 Day” project came from the San Carlos Charter Learning Center, which is California’s founding public charter school, and the John Gill School, a public school in Redwood City. The youngsters are asking politicians to visit a public school for one day to see the impact of their spending choices on education. The relay run began on Saturday, May 15, on the grounds of the San Carlos Charter Learning Center.

2nd annual California Children's Rally

2009-06-24T21:53:25Z

A swarm of children took over the Capitol Tuesday to defend education in the face of massive budget cuts.

Ranging in age from eight years old to 18 years old, students from all over California sought to answer the question, "What is the purpose of public schools?"

The Children's Rally, coordinated by Sandra Tsing Loh, an author and member of the Burning Moms organization, is a congregation of young students as participatory citizens in the political dialogue of their state legislature.

The Burning Moms originated as a group of parents, fathers included, who had frustrations about the education system in California. “I'm a Proposition 13 baby, and my children continue to be affected by the way funding is done in California,” said Loh.

The purpose of the event was to, “Get our children in the habit of coming to the Capitol and meeting with their legislature,” Loh added.

The style of activism is “more hands-on, more creative, and uses what we know about the Internet,” she said. The Burning Moms work in a Burning Man spirit, the week-long annual event in the Black Rock desert of Nevada that celebrates art and community, and commissioned students to install a giant, interpretive art piece on the Capitol steps.

This year the Children’s Rally coincided with Senator Gloria Romero’s informational hearing on SB 604, which would obtain input from students, parents, teachers, and members of the public about the mission of public education in California, and include a preamble to the Education Code.

Senator Romero, Chair of the Senate Education Committee, highlighted the purpose of the hearing in an interview, “We want to hear from students; they are rarely represented in California.”

In the span of an hour and a half, several elementary, middle and high school students took the stand to testify on their school experiences and to provide feedback for reform measures. Almost every student addressed increasing sizes in classrooms and a general lack of funding.

“It is important that a classroom has proper equipment, but equipment is nothing if there isn’t a teacher who has a good salary,” said 11-year-old Amira Telloch.

Telloch continued to express her hopes for the future of education, “It is also important to have a fun, nice, clean and safe school system that celebrates diversity, encourages ideas, is open to change, listens to all ideas from adults and children, and provides a good education for all children who seek one.”

Heather Wiley Cox, a soon-to-be fifth grader in Burbank County, was deeply concerned about the trouble students will have as a result of bigger classrooms. “There will be more children that will have trouble focusing and will be getting less assistance from their teachers,” she said.

She touched on Proposition 13 and addressed the legislative body saying the proposition, “corrupted your inability to balance our state’s budget,” and she demanded, “Roll up your sleeves, drop your agenda, and take a good look at what our state needs.”

The audience was taken aback by the passion and eloquence in her speech, as with many other young students, hearing the word "wow," circulate the room quickly.

After the hearing the children and their parents convened on the West Steps of the Capitol for a kazoo parade. State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Jack O’Connell, led the tune, "Saints go Marching In," for the kazoo parade and expressed his gratitude for student participation in the day’s events.

Assembly woman Julia Brownley also made an appearance at the event. Sandra Tsing Loh led her to the interactive art installation equipped with a spinning wheel to see what will be cut next from the budget. The installation was political in nature, commenting on legislation that “goes nowhere” at times, said Assembly woman Brownley.

Senator Romero said she is trying to combat this by focusing the Education Code with a mission statement, “If we had a clear direction and purpose, I think we could begin to answer the question and to provide for stronger certitude as to what we expect from our public school system.”

This direction begins with the students themselves. The diversity in their backgrounds, coming from magnet, public, and technology specific schools showed the solidarity among young people in regards to the future of education. “You talk about how if you do this you will be saving the future of the state, but you are cutting the education of the children that are the future of the state,” said Wiley Cox.

Students from Los Angeles to San Francisco were able to mingle with important state figures yesterday, and their voices were heard. In these trying times, young students are recognizing the difficulty of looking to the future of education, and they are doing something about it.

For more information, click the following links:
California Children's Rally
The Burning Moms
Senate Bill Number 604

What's happening at the Capitol: June 22, 23

2009-06-22T01:16:45Z

Monday, June 22

11:30 a.m.- 2 p.m. 100 people from Californians for Disability Rights will rally on the north steps of the Capitol for health issues in the budget.

Tuesday, June 23

10 a.m.- 1 p.m. 500 children and their parents will convene at the west steps of the Capitol for the California Children's Rally, a celebratory, kid-friendly rally.

Here is the group's schedule of events:

10 a.m.: Kids ring school bell and get things started at the Annual California Children’s Rally Kazoo Parade
“Students First: Children Speak About the Mission of Public Education,” a dialogue to define the mission of public education in California
10:30 a.m.: Informational hearing on SB604 [which elicits public input to determine the core values and mission of public education in California] in room 4202 with State Senator Gloria Romero
Parents for Public Schools (San Francisco), Parents Revolution/Parents Union (Lost Angeles), The Lemonade Initiative (Lost Angeles), other parents TBA
Ben Austin, Lemonade Initiative; Parents
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell
Assemblywoman Julia Brownley introduces AB8, a bill to simplify the mysterious money-spewing “Dr. Seuss Rube Goldberg Machine”* that is California public school funding
- * a giant contraption to be built live on the Capitol steps by the children, with Trash for Teaching‘s Beth Elliott
Noon – 1 p.m. POTLUCK Picnic Lunch/Celebration
The Burning Moms Hammer Pants Dance
A final toast by Sandra Tsing Loh to ALL PUBLIC SCHOOL MOTHERS
The Angry Tired Teachers’ Rock ’n’ Roll Dance Finish!
1 – 4 p.m. Families may use this time to visit their legislators. No appointments are needed (you don’t even need to knock!), but a bit of preparation will help you learn about your legislators. You can expect to at least meet with their staff. Here’s a helpful link.