Veterans Day Message: Honoring Latino Military Servicemembers And Their Commitment To America.

Monthly Education Policy E-Newsletter: October Edition

LULAC, NIEA, NM Governor's Office Host First Common Core Town Hall

Nearly 300 people attended the LULAC Common Core Town hall held in New Mexico last month as part of LULAC’s continued work to inform the community about the Common Core State Standards. LULAC hosted New Mexico Education Secretary Hanna Skandera at what was the first of several community town halls scheduled to take in New Mexico. The town hall took place at the Christine Duncan Heritage Academy. To view a live stream of the town hall, visit www.lulac.org/live.

“Our work to address the education disparities that impact our community continues to be a priority for LULAC,” said LULAC New Mexico State Director Ralph Arellanes. “Recently, New Mexico was ranked 50th in the nation for its lack of childhood quality of life programs. We need to work much harder at addressing these tremendous needs, and I am glad to see that LULAC continues to lead the nation in addressing these needs and initiatives.”

Thanks to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, LULAC has continued to work to inform the Latino community about the Common Core State Standards. LULAC has created various literature pieces related to the Common Core State Standards that are accessible online. To learn more about these resources, visit www.lulac.org/commoncore.

Nearly 300 people gather for the New Mexico town hall on the Common Core State Standards.

LULAC leadership meets New Mexico Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera.

LULAC Members Descend on Capitol Hill for ACTober 2013

Over 100 LULAC members from across the country convened in Washington, D.C. on Oct. 3, 2013, as part of LULAC’s ACTober Fall Advocacy Days. LULAC advocates had appointments with close to 80 Congressional offices and discussed critical issues of importance to the Latino community, including the ESEA waivers. To view the various advocacy fact sheets distributed to Members of Congress and their staff visits the www.lulac.org/educationpolicy.

If you were unable to join us in Washington, D.C., contact your member of Congress about the ESEA waivers today! In August 2013, LULAC joined 9 other civil rights organizations in releasing a white paper analyzing the Department of Education's ESEA Waiver system. The white paper raises concerns regarding the rigor of state accountability systems - ESEA waivers provide less accountability for the educational success of underserved students, including Latino students. 41 states including the District of Columbia, however, have already been granted these waivers. Call or write your member of Congress today!

LULAC Joins AFT at National Human, Civil, and Women's Rights Conference in Los Angeles, California

As a partner of the The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), LULAC participated in AFT’s National Human, Civil, and Women's Rights Conference in October. One of the resources provided to conference participants,
included information regarding the “Pocket DACA” smartphone application. The “Pocket DACA” is a tool that allows individuals to learn more about the eligibility requirements regarding the DACA process. For more information about the “Pocket DACA” visit here.

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Spotlight on LULAC's State Advocacy

Common Core State Standards Implementation Across the U.S.

Click on your state to see CCSS implementation in your state.

LULAC Council in Florida to Host Common Core State Standards Education Forum

This month, LULAC Council #7232 in Florida will be hosting an education forum on the topic of the Common Core State Standards. The event will be held on Tuesday, October 29, 2013, at the Casa Bacardi at ICCAS - University of Miami Campus (1531 Brescia Avenue, Coral Gables, Florida 33124). The event starts at 6:30 PM. To RSVP email edcouncil7232@gmail.com.

LULAC Partners with Univision for National Action Day - "Acción por la Educación!"

On Oct. 30th, Univision and LULAC will work to promote a National Action Day or "Acción por la Educación!" day. Univision will be running day-long programming on CCSS and LULAC will work to engage its 135,000 members, and the Hispanic community at-large, to take a pledge to learn more about CCSS and become engaged in our schools. LULAC advocates will also participate on Univision’s Spanish radio programs to invite the community to participate "Acción por la Educación!" and promote Univision’s college-and-career readiness segment which will be airing the weekend of Nov. 2nd as a wrap-up to National Action Day. For more information on "Acción por la Educación!" contact Luis Torres at latorres (at) lulac.org.

LNESC Miami Plans College and Career Readiness Afterschool Session - October 30, 2013

In observance of National Action Day, "Acción por la Educación!", the Miami LULAC National Education Service Center (LNESC) will be hosting a college and career readiness after school information session on October 30, 2013 for its Upward Bound students. This college readiness session will provide these students with an opportunity to learn more about the importance of taking rigorous and advanced courses in preparation for college. Session leaders will also provide students with college and career readiness resources to help them plan for the future. For more information about LNESC's programs and work, contact dvega (at) lnesc.org.

  • LULAC Sends Letter to House of Representatives Regarding Appropriations Legislation for FY14: LULAC recently sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives expressing opposition to the FY14 Continuing Resolution that included language to defund the Affordable Care Act. The CR also did not address the sequestration process, which is having a negative impact on education programs and services of critical importance to the Latino community.
  • LULAC Sends Letter to House of Representatives Regarding Latest Nutrition Bill : LULAC recently sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives expressing opposition to the H.R 3102, a nutrition bill passed by the House that reauthorizes nutrition programs but cuts almost 10 times more from programs like SNAP than the nutrition/agriculture bill approved by the Senate.
  • LULAC Sends Letter to Department of Education Expressing Concern Regarding GAO Report On ELLs: The Government Accountability Office released a report titled Education Needs to Further Examine Data Collection on English Language Learners in Charter Schools, by George A. Scott in July of 2013. The report notes, among other things, that the Department of Education’s ability to determine English Language Learner (ELL) success in charter schools is severely impaired by a lack of reporting and shortage of data on charter schools. In response, LULAC sent a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asking that the Department of Education implement the recommendations outlined in the report and provide charter schools with the support needed to help them report information on ELL students.
  • LULAC Sends Letter to Congress On Negative Impact of Sequester, Urges Congress to Repeal Sequester in FY 14: As Congress looks to pass appropriation legislation before the end of September, LULAC issued a letter to Congressional members highlighting the negative impact posed to programs serving Latino, and other under-served students, by the automatic budget cuts. In the letter, LULAC asks Congress to use the FY14 appropriation legislation as a legislative vehicle to end the sequestration process imposed by the Budget Control Act of 2010.

To read more LULAC advocacy letters, visit our education policy page at www.lulac.org/educationpolicy.

News Alert! LULAC Advances Education