Even on Superbowl Sunday, over two hundred adult leaders of VOICE participated in an accountability assembly for school board candidates. Three candidates for the position of Board Chair of Oklahoma City Public Schools participated in the assembly, which highlighted personal stories from VOICE leaders and pointed questions about what candidates plan to do.

VOICE to Hold OKCPS Board Chair Candidates Accountability Session, The City Sentinel

"Three-hundred Prescott, Prescott Valley, Chino Valley and Dewey-Humboldt residents told Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett that Arizona must start adequately funding education during a meeting Tuesday at Abia Judd Elementary School in Prescott.

'Over the last five years, cuts in funding have been imposed by the state in addition to the cuts from declining enrollments,' said Wendy Madsen, a parent of a student at Taylor Hicks Elementary School in Prescott. 'Our districts together have been forced to cut over $25 million.'"

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"More than 600 people turned out on Sunday to hear more than 30 city and school board candidates speak at a joint forum put on by the El Paso Inter-religious Sponsoring Organization and Border Interfaith."

City Council candidates were challenged to invest in workforce development program Project ARRIBA, and complete quality of life and neighborhood infrastructure projects within the already established 7-year time frame. Because El Paso public schools mandate standardized testing at least once (and sometimes twice) per week, school board candidates were challenged to reduce the number of standardized tests by 50%. Candidates were also asked to commit to a more equitable way of funding the arts than simply asking parents of participating students to shoulder the cost.

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150 PCIC leaders, DREAMers and their parents filled the Board Room at Pima Community College and cheered when the Board of Governors voted 4-1 in favor of in-state tuition discounts for DACA students. Currently, hundreds of undocumented local students pay five times the in-state rate and are not eligible for financial aid.

PCIC leader Melanie Nelson spoke of the six Deferred Action Civic Academies held at her church, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, last fall. "These students have lawful status now, but they can't afford the high tuition. Before DACA we had several attempted suicides in our parish. Now they need an pathway to an education and a future," she said. Before the vote, Jimmy Ojeda, a homeowner and parent, from St. John's, and Monica Leon, a U of A graduate, from Casa Maria Catholic Worker shared their own immigration stories. The group's goal is now to get the University of Arizona system to follow Pima's lead.

New Mexico Representative Mimi Stewart and Sen. Linda Lopez joined the Rev. Trey Hammond of Albuquerque Interfaith at a news conference Tuesday to announce the introduction of House Bill 460, which would bar private firms from running public schools.

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"School board members have lauded the process that Travis Heights used to garner support for the transformation, which they approved last month. Unlike the district's failed partnership with ... the move to turn Travis Heights into a charter school had the enthusiastic backing of the school's parents and teachers, joined by Austin Interfaith and Education Austin.

'It's a real democratic process that empowers the parents, empowers the teachers, empowers the students,' said Britt Adams, a special education teacher at the school."

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"Travis Heights Innovation School Project ....is a collaborative proposal developed by the neighborhood, the school itself, employee union Education Austin, and local nonprofit Austin Interfaith. It would still be the same students and same staff on the same campus: However, rather than taking edicts from AISD central administration, the campus would have a governing board with parents, teachers, and a seat each for Education Austin and Austin Interfaith...."

Austin School Board Considers..., Austin American Statesman

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