Our children and youth are the future of southeast Los Angeles it’s up to us to ensure a world-class education for them together.
That’s why parents are coming out this week to ask our school district officials to collaborate with us and ensure an excellent education for every child.
Can we count on you to stand with us?
Getting involved in education now is key. The reality is that of 89 schools in southeast Los Angeles, only twelve meet the state average in English and mathematics, according to a new report from Innovate Public Schools.
To change this reality, we have to work together and we need exemplary leadership.
A good leader is always the person we must follow and strive to work together with them, in this case, to achieve a high-level education.
25 years ago, Rafael Medina – father, community leader, and transportation secretary in Michoacán, Mexico – was sitting in his office, chatting with a political leader who said to him, “Rafael, you can be rich from one day to the next by selling permits and concessions at the price you want.” Rafael replied, “I can’t do that and I don’t need to. I’m not going to to steal and deceive my people. I quit”.
We must strive to honor the legacy of Rafael Medina.
This is one of the many stories that our parent group in southeast Los Angeles heard this year as we held conversations with hundreds of families and more than 12 ‘experts’ in education.
What we know is that good leadership goes beyond self-interest, and while bad leaders see only their own interest. In this sense, we must all be leaders for our children, showing, not saying what it is to be a leader.
Superintendent José Huerta is in charge of the 89 southeast schools in the Los Angeles Unified District (LAUSD). He is showing his leadership by joining with parents, listening to us, and committing to attend our action event. This comes after several meetings with parents from the community over the course of the year with not only him, but many others from his administration and local principals.
Everything is presented as a great opportunity for excellent leadership to grow in SELA schools because equally, the help of parents, children, and youth will be part of the success.
This is part of what will lead the community to have higher academic performance. All of the principals at SELA schools must have values like Rafael’s.
Leadership is key. Professors from the University of Minnesota and the University of Toronto in Canada conducted a research study on which is more important and effective for student learning.
They concluded that: After classroom instruction, school leaders have the second most influence. Until today, researchers have not found a single case of a school that improved its student performance record without a good principal.
We can all help our children and youth to have high expectations for a better education. All of us are leaders.
We would like our schools to be free from bullying and the expectations raised to the highest level in education and thus close the gap between schools at the proficient level in math and reading and those that have not reached this level. We deserve it.
The word education is the future of our children.
Salvador Diaz
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