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| Brenda Sell, Rosa Evelia, Jim Sell, Paul Torres and Carole Delgado work at a station during a breakout session. |
Smiles, fellowship and cookies abound as the conference room fills with people on a Monday evening at the Martin Luther King Center in San Mateo. Attendees include parents, teachers, union leaders, a guest speaker, CTA staff, a district office administrator, local church members and even self-professed “do-gooders” from the neighborhood.
It’s not a school board meeting, or a PTA event or a fundraiser. The gathering is just a regular, monthly community outreach meeting organized by the San Mateo Elementary Teachers Association (SMETA), open to those interested in discussing situations that affect schools and the local community. It is also a chance to observe firsthand how support for public schools can be strengthened through a combination of hard work and reaching out to others.
The meetings began this year after SMETA received a two-year, $1,200 Community Outreach Grant from CTA. Referred to as SCOPE (SMETA Community Outreach Program for Education), the project is an example of CTA’s external organizing, to strengthen community ties.
“One of the things CTA realized during the voucher campaign — Proposition 38 in 2000 — is that it’s important to build relationships and sustain them year-round,” says David Hernandez, a CTA Community Outreach coordinator working with SMETA on the project. “The lesson learned during the voucher campaign is that we can’t just ask for community support during elections and do nothing after the election is over. CTA encourages all chapters to develop a community outreach program that is sustained throughout the year.”
SMETA members say they have already seen the project pay off in teacher support. When teachers were negotiating their contract this year, the parents were solidly behind them and voiced that support to the school board. And SMETA is counting on parents to make their voices heard now in Sacramento to protest the current budget cuts to education. Teachers, in return, have helped to advocate for parents who are not knowledgeable about how the school system works.
“Our goal is to establish rapport and develop close working relationships with parents, not only on educational issues but also community issues,” says Carole Delgado, president of SMETA. “We also have a specific objective this year to bring community leaders together to address community issues. We have reached out to faith-based organizations, churches and community service agencies for this purpose.”
Many attending the meeting are members of the Social Justice Group from St. Bartholomew’s Church in San Mateo — as well as members of the Peninsula Interfaith Action (PIA) organization.
“To me, it’s a good thing whenever people focus on public education,” says Joy Addison, a former teacher and administrator who is retired and now describes herself as a community “do-gooder” belonging to PIA. “I feel that something like this is definitely about helping kids.”
“I went to one meeting to find out about things that were going on, and I’ve been coming back ever since,” says Rosa Evelia, the mother of two children in district schools. “At the beginning I didn’t know my daughter’s teachers or feel close to the teachers. But now I do, and I am learning so much. I am learning how to help with my children’s homework and what is going on in the school district. I feel better knowing what’s going on and glad I have been making more connections.”
The meeting — translated from English to Spanish — is called to order by Paul Torres, a SMETA member and chair of SCOPE, who also has two children who attend the school district. First on the agenda is how the lack of school transportation adversely affects parents in the low-income North Central neighborhood of San Mateo. Students attend schools outside of their neighborhood that may be a mile away. Parents who don’t drive must walk their children to school — even on rainy days. Some families spend two hours a day walking to and from school.
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| Educator and parent Carla Chavez-Torres explains an exercise as Ed Canda, a teacher from Horrall School, listens on. |
Because many parents are not fluent in English, SMETA has helped them prepare a petition requesting that the San Mateo Foster City School District develop a task force — with parent representation — to study and implement a feasible transportation plan for their children. Parents announce that they are in the process of gathering signatures from other concerned parents.
Next on the agenda is guest speaker Carla Chavez Torres, the English Language Development (ELD) coordinator for the nearby Ravenswood School District in East Palo Alto. She is also married to Paul Torres. She gives a presentation on how parents can become advocates for their children. She asks participants to break up into small groups and walk to stations where they brainstorm and answer questions taped to the wall: “What do you do when your child is having difficulty at school?” or “What rights do you have, as a parent, to advocate on behalf of your child?”
Delgado finishes with an update on the dire state budget situation, adding that information packets will be distributed describing ways that SCOPE members can contact their local legislators asking them to reject the draconian budget cuts the governor has proposed. After the group selects topics for discussion at future meetings, the gathering is adjourned.
“I think that when you make connections with parents and community members, it breaks down the barriers,” says Paul Torres. “And meeting in this kind of format definitely gives everyone another perspective.”
“I think teachers, parents and community members are natural allies,” says SMETA member Cathy Noceda, who serves as the translator for the meetings. “I can’t think of any reason not to do this. Better communication helps advance public education — and the more you can advance education, the more you can help kids.”
