Education Justice Collaborative
The Education Justice Collaborative and Goals
The Education
Justice Collaborative (EJC) is an expanding network of community organizations,
researchers, educators, policy and legal advocates working toward a more equitable
and fully resourced system of public education in California. Each participating
organization engages in its own work for educational justice. The participants
in the Education Justice Collaborative share the ultimate goal of providing
a first rate education for every child in California, and specifically to
make sure that this is possible for the groups of students currently receiving
the most deficient education—students of color, low-income students,
and immigrant students. The Collaborative hopes to accomplish this goal by
promoting a system that includes 1) an educated and activist citizenry, and
2) democratic and transparent forms of educational accountability in which
these citizens engage.
An “educated” citizenry would have greater access to the depth
and breadth of the problems in our current system of education, but they would
also be educated about the processes of how those systems can be changed –
whether through the Master Plan process, Williams v. State litigation, or
other forms of legislative and citizen action. A democratic and transparent
accountability system would include “opportunity to learn standards”
that specify what government agencies – the state and the school districts
– must provide to each student. These standards would spell out the
educational essentials that many CA students now lack: qualified teachers,
a curriculum aligned with the standards; enough texts and/or materials to
take home for homework; clean and safe learning environments.
Function of the Education Justice Collaborative
The Education Justice Collaborative coordinates research, policy, and capacity
building to better inform and equip its members to advocate for change. Since
participant organizations have different primary constituencies (i.e. parents,
teachers, community members, students, etc.) the collaborative brings together
various groups, building relationships among a broad and diverse set of voices
and providing a larger mechanism to enhance public pressure and support for
its goals. EJC’s mechanism for widespread communication is achieved
through the following: 1) an intranet site for information-sharing and online
discussions, 2) monthly focused conference calls 3) coordinated retreats and
meetings that bring together academics, policymakers and grassroots organizers
to better understand key educational issues, 4) research dissemination about
the problems confronting public education in formats that are widely accessible.,
5) capacity building through hands-on workshops such as technology, legislative
briefings, research, etc. The Collaborative continues to grow, providing a
place where current and potential allies can interact around substantive work.
While the EJC itself does not undertake campaigns for change, many of its
members do so, and the resources that the Collaborative provides fuel these
efforts.
Current Allies and Support
The Education Justice Collaborative is currently funded by a generous grant
from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Its current coordination is
based out of UCLA’s Institute for Democracy, Education and Access (IDEA)
and the UCLA’s Program in Public Interest Law and Policy (PILP). Participant
organizations include Californians for Justice, Public Advocates, Justice
Matters Institute, ACLU- Northern California, ACORN, Community Coalition,
and the Achievement Council.
Process for New Allies to join the Education Justice Collaborative
The Education Justice Collaborative welcomes participation from groups already
engaged in this arena and potential constituencies that have not yet committed
to statewide action on equity and more resources for all students. These would
include activist and grassroots groups working on both a local and statewide
level, advocacy and policy groups, educators, business interests, and unions.
The Education Justice Collaborative recognizes that member groups will maintain
their independent thinking and activities, however, we also believe there
is great potential for collaboration around a common agenda. Interested groups
should contact Julie Flapan at flapan@gseis.ucla.edu for more information.