In January 2020, a small group of Spanish-speaking, immigrant mothers formed a parent leader group in San José with a goal to better advocate for English learner students. The shift to distance learning hit English learners the hardest. According to Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium data, as of 2022 in San José Unified, only 8% English Learners are on grade level in English and 6% ELs are on grade level in math. In Alum Rock Union School District, only 6% ELs are on grade level in English and 5% are on grade level in math. Parent leaders in San José continue to focus on advocating for student recovery to help students recover from the impacts of distance learning.
In January 2021, parents organized in Alum Rock and San José Unified to expand access to high-quality tutoring, summer school, after school and summer enrichment programs for underserved students. The following year, parent leaders successfully entered a competitive grant program operated by the San José Public Library Foundation to expand professional tutoring services to children identified as needing additional academic support.
In March 2023, Parent Leaders gathered with community members, San José city Mayor Matt Mahan, and Council members Omar Torres and Peter Ortiz at the San José Public Library to celebrate the advocacy work led by Parent Leaders that resulted in a $2M investment from the City of San José for accessible high-quality tutoring programs across the city. San José City Mayor, Matt Mahan thanked predecessor, former Mayor Sam Liccardo, for championing this investment.
In partnership with the San José Public Library and tutoring service providers like Alpha Public Schools, Bay Area Tutoring, and Elevate Tutoring, the San José Innovate team is projected to serve nearly 800 students with free, high-quality tutoring in 2023.
“This program will change lives. And we are proud and thankful to partner with fierce parent advocates like the families that Innovate Public Schools serves to put the focus on our students, particularly our most vulnerable students, and empower them to achieve their full potential.”
– San José City Mayor, Matt Mahan
As Parent Leaders in San José continue advocating for the expansion of high quality tutoring programs, city leaders also recognize the importance of expanding access to underserved communities. Councilmember of Downtown San José, Omar Torres shared, “As a city, we must create a pipeline and a pathway for our youth. We’ve got to train them, support them, give them access to quality tutoring and exposure to careers unknown to them. And it starts by investing in our libraries and programs.”
Programs like these not only impact our students, but also the communities we live in. Councilmember of East San José, Peter Ortiz stated, “It was during my time at Independence [high school] where I lived the realities of an underfunded education and a gang-impacted school. Those experiences are what propelled me into public service. I wanted to ensure that our children growing up here in East San José have the opportunity to dream big and achieve a great life for their families because our children here matter too.”
Innovate Parent Leaders in San José are committed to ensuring their advocacy efforts result in permanent funding for high-quality tutoring programs. “Our students are still recovering from the learning loss they experienced during the pandemic, and we know that in order for kids to fully recover, we need all hands on deck. The situation for our kids, teachers, and schools is dire and we are calling on our communities to respond, just as the city of San José did, so that more tutoring programs are available to better serve students. A lot more funding is needed to keep these programs running, but we are off to a great start.” – Mary Anna Cazarez, Parent Leader in San José
Innovate Public Schools is a community organization dedicated to building the capacity of parents and families to organize, advocate, and demand high-quality schools for their children.