| |
The
Power of Organizing: students,
parents and teachers delay implementation of California
high school exit exam!
Summer 2003
On July 9, hundreds of students, parents, and
teachers from across California converged on the
State Board of Education to expose school inequality
and demand a delay to the stateâs high school
exit exam. We marched in the Sacramento heat;
spoke to reporter after reporter; met with legislators;
and celebrated with the ãSummer Jam,ä which featured
spoken word and political hip-hop. We filled the
Boardâs meeting room, lined up to speak for over
an hour of testimony, and compelled Board members
to answer us directly and address our concerns.
And we won a two-year delay of the California
High School Exit Exam (CAHSEE).
Our mobilization ö the ãSummer Jam to Stop the
Exit Scamä ö was a joyful day of action that expressed
the power and unity built during two years of
hard organizing. At the national level, this victory
in California echoes and, we hope, amplifies other
work across the country for racial justice in
education. The Campaign for Quality Education,
coordinated by Californians for Justice, works
for a long-term vision of quality schools as well
as addressing the immediate challenge of the Exit
Exam. CFJ and allies ö such as Coalition for Educational
Justice, Youth Organizing Communities, Public
Advocates, CalCARE, Disability Rights Advocates,
and many others ö have worked for equitable school
funding, working school bathrooms, access to college
prep, fair discipline practices, and more. Weâve
talked not just about disparities in Exit Exam
scores, but about learning conditions in schools
serving students of color, low-income students,
and English Learner students. These conditions
include not nearly enough teachers or textbooks,
overcrowding, rats and cockroaches. Weâve researched
problems in local schools, held rallies around
the state, and gotten media attention by showing
the bad news.
The good news is that on July 9, the State Board
finally listened. Just a year earlier, the Board
treated us with disdain, trying to bar participants
from a meeting and barely responding to testimony.
This summer we packed their space with over 50
students and parents wearing red t-shirts ö leaving
test company representatives wearing suits to
stand outside. Over 300 more of us chanted loudly
as we marched past the meetingâs windows.
Inside the meeting, two dozen students, parents,
teachers, and supporters testified about how the
Exit Exam worsens serious inadequacies in their
schools. Long Beach student Samantha Knox asked,
ãDo you really think we donât take our education
seriously?ä We demanded that the Board delay the
test until all students have a real opportunity
to learn and alternative assessments are valid
for a diploma. This time, Board members felt compelled
to respond directly to speakers, agreeing that
students do not, in fact, receive an equal opportunity
to learn.
Thereâs much more to be done. We didnât win the
dayâs more ambitious goal: a delay longer than
two years. But we cheered and applauded when four
of the Board members repeated our slogan that
ãtwo years is not enough.ä These four ö notably,
all the adult members of color, three of whom
are educators ö supported Board member Luis Rodriguezâ
motion to amend the delay to three years. Though
the motion failed 4-5, the final vote for a two-year
delay was unanimous.
Weâve come a long way from students and parents
being ignored, and weâve won one serious battle.
Weâll keep fighting for quality education. As
we chanted in the dayâs closing rally, ãWeâll
be back!ä
For more about CFJ and the Campaign for Quality
Education, and to download our ãFirst Things Firstä
report, go to http://www.caljustice.org |
|
