(left to right) Maria Elena Hernandez Daniel Sanchez, Maria Torres, Franchesca Gonzalez (CRLA), Virginia Hernandez, Julio Mora, Maria Teresa Herrera, Melvy Hernandez, Cynthia Rice (CRLA), Felicia Espinoza (CRLA), & Maria Sanchez.
CRLA and a group of migrant parents and community members traveled to the state capitol on September 3rd to advocate for changes to the Migrant Statewide Parent Advisory Committee’s (MSPAC) regulations and protocols. “The parents asked Superintendent Torlakson and the board to expand and better facilitate parent involvement with migrant children’s education,” said Cynthia Rice, CRLA Director of Litigation , Advocacy & Training.
Eight migrant farmworker parents and community members, many of whom are members of the State Migrant Parent Advisory Committee (SPAC), or their Regional Migrant Parent Advisory Committee (RPAC), along with CRLA testified at the hearing explaining that the SPAC and RPAC have been left out of the MSPAC decision and regulation making process.
The parents who testified argued that the provisions imposed by the Board of Education limited rather than promoted parent participation through term limits, poor meeting location choice, limited meeting time, and requiring interpretation request to be made two weeks in advance of any meeting.
Parents and community members took time off work and drove 4 to 6 hours to get to the Sacramento hearing. “Many other parents wanted to comment and attend but were unable to leave work and travel such a long distance,”said Franchesca Gonzalez, CRLA staff attorney. The California Department of Education (CDE) scheduled only one hearing, in Sacramento, beginning at 9:00 a.m. on a weekday. The Parents urged CDE to host hearings about the regulations at other locations around the state where farmworker families live, work and send their children to school. Each witness urged the CDE to start over and issue new regulations.
CRLA, in its comments, asked Superintendent Torlakson to go back to the drawing board and develop regulations allowing the SPAC & RPAC to do their jobs, as described in the state Migrant Education Act: “participate in the planning, operation and evaluation of the state migrant education program.”
CRLA leaders from across the state drove from Southern California and the Central Valley with parent witnesses and helped them prepare their compelling testimonies.
Final written comments are due on September 24, 2013. Then CRLA will submit further comments then in addition to the preliminary comments included HERE.