Rocio Rivas for LAUSD Board of Education, District 2
NPE Action enthusiastically endorses Rocio Rivas for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education, Board District 2.
Rocio Rivas worked as a teacher assistant during her undergraduate years at U.C. Berkeley. This work inspired her to seek a career in education. She attended Teachers College, Columbia University where earned a Masters and Doctorate in Comparative and International Education. Rocio has traveled to many countries (Chile, Argentina and Republic of Georgia) conducting educational research. She also participated in research studies as an analyst for LAUSD, where she authored reports on a range of critical issues including academic achievement, culturally relevant education, and charter school renewals.
Rocio’s most important role, however, is that she is a parent of an LAUSD child. Rocio worked as a community representative in one of her son’s elementary schools. In this capacity, she provided workshops for parents on various issues such as critical thinking, growth mindset, teacher-parent conferences, and home strategies to support learning. She also assisted teachers in their classrooms by facilitating small groups, conducting art activities and assisting with anything the teachers needed for their students.
To be direct, Rocio’s opponents are supported by the charter school industry. Rocio’s campaign message is clear. “I will begin working on supporting the expansion of community schools and advocate to the state capital for more funds to strengthen the foundational infrastructure essential to support the work of community schools. I will also focus on establishing charter school policies, procedures and practices to initiate strong accountability, oversight and transparency.”
She told NPE Action that she wants to fight to “preserve the integrity of the teaching profession and protect her neighborhood public schools from the tentacles of profiteering and privatization.” She understands the “challenges facing her public schools with promoters of privatization waiting to pounce on and profit from the disaster they are creating.”
Rocio plans to fight privatization and improve the Los Angeles public schools by fighting the “standardized testing models and assessment tools that reinforce structural racism and socio-economic disparity, further compounding the educational debt owed to Black and Brown children living in low income communities.” Rocio feels strongly that she is the “leader who will fight to fortify and uphold an equitable public education system that our children deserve.”
Please head to the polls to vote in the primary election on June 7th and cast your vote for Rocio Rivas.
No candidate authorized this ad. It is paid for by the Network for Public Education Action, New York City, New York.