Over the past three years, California has cut over 2 million dollars per day from our schools! Take action now to protect our schools and the future of California.

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The critics are calling it "hot" "challenging the status quo" "fresh" and "breaking new ground."
I'm not talking about this year's Grammy-winning Song of the Year . I'm talking about our new CFJ Winter 2012 NEWSFLASH!

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2011 Sacramento May Day of Action: Education 2.0 Press Conference

On May 10, 2011 students and parents unveiled the new “OS 2011” in Sacramento, CA to urge our State lawmakers to “Upgrade Our Education System” to meet 21st century realities and demands.
Californians for Justice spearheads the Campaign for Quality Education (CQE), which on May 10 brought together more than 125 parents and students from across California for a Day of Action in Sacramento.

We met with key legilators and deliver a simple message: The economic future of California depends on the brainpower of the rising generation.

CFJ Update:  CFJ on the Move + Good-bye to a Legend

(March 9, 2011)

CFJ is literally and figuratively “on the move.”   We have a new office location in Oakland and our student leaders are crisscrossing the state and nation in the struggle for educational justice and to improve their schools and lives. 

NEW OFFICE LOCATION

CFJ Oakland is now located at 520 3rd Street, Suite #209, Oakland, CA 94607.  Please note this in your address book and filein case you need to send us a letter, invoice, or donation  (Hint, hint).   Our phone numbers in Oakland will remain the same:  (510) 452-2728  and (510) 452-3552  fax. 

CFJ IN DC, SAC-TOWN, AND SLO

That’s right, our student leaders are racking up the frequent flier and driver miles.  Last weekend, our Statewide Campaign Director Sergio Cuellar and leaders from CFJ Fresno flew to Washington DC for the Voices in Action: National Youth Summit, which was held by the Department of Education and hosted by Howard University.   While there, they represented for the needs of California’s students of color and the Alliance for Educational Justice.

Last week, CFJ student leaders from all four of our regions traveled to Sacramento for “Capitol Day.”  They met with dozens of legislative offices to discuss our statewide vision for a quality education that leaves all students prepared for college and career.

And in two weeks, nearly 70 CFJ student leaders, board members, and staffers will travel to San Luis Obispo for our annual Statewide Leadership Retreat.  At Camp Ocean Pines, we’ll be learning about local and statewide campaigns, developing new organizing skills, making new friends, and sharing our talents in the world-famous CFJ Talent Show. 

(Samantha Knox leads the charge during last summer's rally for the CQE v. California lawsuit).

A FOND FARWELL TO SAMANTHA KNOX, CFJ STALWART
The Williams Settlement.  The fight to suspend the California Exit Exam (CAHSEE). 

A-G College Curriculum for all.  The defeat of Prop 54. The formation of the Campaign for Quality Education.   And in Long Beach, a new campaign around health in communities of color called “Food for Thought.”

These are just some of the actions and campaigns that Long Beach Lead Organizer Samatha Knox has worked on during her time at CFJ.  Sam joined CFJ in 2001 as a freshman at Long Beach Poly High School.  Since then, she has risen in the ranks from student leader to intern to board member to part-time organizer to mother to full-time organizer to lead organizer and part of CFJ’s leadership team. 

After almost ten years with CFJ, Sam will be moving on to explore new career options and relocation to Tennessee.   We wish Sam our best as she continues the fight for racial and social justice in the south.  She has been an inspiration to our leaders, allies, and staff alike, and her contributions to the movement and to CFJ will be greatly missed. 

(November 21, 2010)

After three years of organizing, alliance-building, meetings, and surveys, the work of CFJ and allies has paid off and the students of East Side Union High School District will have more opportunities to attend a four-year college upon high school graduation.   Last week, the ESUHSD board members voted 5-0 to make the A-G College Prep Curriculum the default curriculum for all students entering high school.  This will ensure that more low-income students of color will be enrolled into the courses making them eligible for a UC or CSU school. 

To read the San Jose Mercury News story on A-G, click here . 

 

CFJ Statement on the 2010 CA Budget

California's Bad Math Hurts Students of Color

(October 12, 2010)  And on the hundredth day, the California legislature borrowed from Peter (education) to pay Paul (pass a budget).   In the tardiest budget in state history, the public schools will be cut $3.1 billion with $1.9 billion to be deferred and repaid in 2011-2012. (More on that later).

What does a $3.1 billion cut look like?  For our student leaders at California for Justice, it looks like a computer lab where only eight of thirty computers work.  Or a set of class books that students cannot bring home to do homework.  Or a counselor you’re lucky to see once a year. 

To read the entire CFJ Statement on the 2010 California budget, click here.

Are you ready for the November 2010 Elections?

(October 1, 2010)

CFJ and our allies in the Campaign for Quality Education have produced a Voter Guide for this coming fall's November 2010 California Elections.  We received responses from both Superintendent of Public Instruction candidates and five of six Governor candidates on important issues such as the California budget, the education budget, high school dropouts, and immigration.  We also researched four propositions that affect the overall budget, the education budget, and community health. 

To see the November 2010 Voters's Guide, click here. 

GRASSROOTS COALITION SUES CALIFORNIA OVER SCHOOL FUNDING

Says State Violating Fundamental Right to Education by Shortchanging Students

(July 12, 2010)

Oakland—A coalition of grassroots groups and individuals representing thousands of low-income students and parents from across California is suing the State of California over a school funding system that the Governor’s own Committee on Education Excellence said is “not equitable;…not efficient; and…not sufficient for students who face the greatest challenges.”

The lawsuit calls on the State to live up to its constitutional responsibility and “provide all California public school students with a new school finance system that sufficiently and equitably supports its public schools, so that every child has a reasonable opportunity to obtain a meaningful education that prepares them for civic, social, and economic success in the 21st century.”

Plaintiffs in the case include the Campaign for Quality Education (CQE), Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE), Californians for Justice (CFJ) and San Francisco Organizing Project (SFOP), plus more than 20 individual students and parents. They are represented by Public Advocates Inc., a San Francisco-based public interest law firm and advocacy group that also served as a lead counsel in Williams v. California and Serrano v. Priest, as well as Howard Rice, and Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP, two prominent national law firms serving as pro bono counsel.

To read the entire press release or learn more about the historic CQE et al v. California lawsuit, go to www.fairschoolsnow.org