Congress will vote on Federal Education Bill “Every Student Succeeds Act” But Latino Civil Rights Group, LULAC, Says It Won’t Protect Latino Children

03Dec
by Alma V. Marquez

At LA Comadre, we’re 100% committed to sharing information which is important about education in LA, in California and our country. As much as possible, we will be sharing information in easy to understand terms because its sometimes complicated.

What’s the Deal?  Most Important National Education Bill
The most important National Education Bill that Congress will be voting on during President Obama’s presidency is going to be voted on by Congress soon. Its called the “Every Student Succeeds Act,” ESSA. But organizations we know and trust are urging Congress to vote NO on the ESSA. They say that this Act would give too much power to individual states which don’t often protect the interests of at-risk children. By removing federal oversight, Congress will basically let states run amok and our children who are at-risk of being failed in schools- including low-income children, English language learners, will not be protected by federal law. This is serious.

Action: Ponte Las Pilas
Please call your Congressional Representative and tell them that you want to make sure that our children are protected and ask them to Vote No on the Every Student Succeeds Act because it will not make sure that our students are protected.

Find Your Representative who works in Washington DC for you:
Not sure of your congressional district or who your member is? This service will assist you by matching your ZIP code to your congressional district, with links to your member’s website and contact page.

http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

Here’s LULAC’s new release:
LULAC Opposes Every Student Succeeds Act
Urges Congress to Vote No

WASHINGTON, D.C. –  LULAC National President Roger C. Rocha, Jr. issued the following statement in response to the release of the Every Student Succeeds Act, legislation which would reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA):

“For the past several months, LULAC, along with other civil rights partners, has worked to inform Members of Congress about the need for critical revisions to the House and Senate legislation reauthorizing the ESEA.

LULAC has stressed that without strong subgroup accountability, better data, resource equity, and language to strengthen the federal role, any ESEA reauthorization would fall short of meeting the needs of our children. Unfortunately, the legislative text released this week does not fully address these issues and thus does not adequately provide the necessary support to ensure the success of Latino students.

The conference process has also been troubling. The fact that not a single member of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus was appointed as a conferee for the final ESEA negotiations between the House and Senate is problematic given that Latinos represent 26% of U.S. public school enrollment.

These concerns aside, we acknowledge that the legislation could have been much worse. We appreciate the attempts of lawmakers, including Senator Patty Murray and Representative Robert “Bobby” Scott, to fight to protect the civil rights legacy of the ESEA. We also acknowledge the roles of our allies in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, including Representatives Ruben Hinojosa and Raul Grijalva, who have championed Latino education issues for years.

LULAC cannot support a bill that concedes so much federal oversight and power to the states – especially given that many states are failing to meet the needs of Latino students. The stakes are too high to allow the pendulum to swing so forcefully away from robust federal oversight of our public schools. For these reasons, LULAC opposes this legislation and urges Members of Congress to vote against its passage.”

LULAC members are encouraged to contact their Members of Congress and urge them to vote NO on the Every Student Succeeds Act. Click here to contact Congress.

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The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is the nation’s largest and oldest civil rights volunteer-based organization that empowers Hispanic Americans and builds strong Latino communities. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 1000 councils around the United States and Puerto Rico, LULAC’s programs, services and advocacy address the most important issues for Latinos, meeting critical needs of today and the future. For more information, visit www.LULAC.org.

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Alma V. Marquez

Alma V. Marquez is the founder of LaComadre.org and is the founder and CEO of Del Sol Group, a communications and public affairs firm focusing on Strategy, Outreach and Leadership in Education, Voter and Civic Engagement. She specializes in parent education, politics and community organizing. She is a proud product of California public schools. She is a graduate of Huntington Park High School in Southeast LA. She also completed her all of credit recovery classes at Maxine Waters Occupational Center in Watts in order to graduate from high school. She attended East LA College and transferred to Occidental College where she earned a Bachelor's degree in English and Comparative Literary Students and Politics. She earned a Master of Arts Degree in Urban Planning at UCLA. Her daughter is a junior in a charter school, chartered by LAUSD. She decided to start the LA Comadre blog because she wanted to create a platform for Latinas and education.

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