Weighted Student Formula – A step toward educational funding equity
“This budget proposal is important because due to budget cuts, my school has resorted to constructing portables that have created an unhealthy and jail-like environment…and has a supply of unsteady counselors which leaves my graduating class of 2012 to less than 10. Half of them are not prepared to continue higher education…because they are unprepared to bounce back…and can barely manage their current settings.”
– Sweet-Jody Diala, AYPAL Youth
Picture this scene: Ten to fifteen young leaders step up one at a time to speak out about poor school conditions and the need for a new school funding formula in front of a panel of California lawmakers. Now imagine that these young leaders are some of the only voices in the room that represent students from large, urban school districts that are predominantly low-income youth of color.
This was the scene that AYPAL and the Campaign for Quality Education (CQE) coalition faced when we testified at the Senate and Assembly Budget subcommittees on education finance in February and March of this year. Despite much push-back from smaller, more rural, and more affluent school districts, we advocated strongly for a “weighted student formula” that would increase funding for low-income and English Language Learner (ELL) students. Without a new method to increase equity, accountability, and adequacy in our school finance system, many immigrant and low-income youth of color will continue to be under-prepared to graduate high school and/or attend college.
This spring, AYPAL will be working with the rest of the CQE coalition to demand that the California legislature and our Governor work together to create a new school funding formula that addresses the needs of our state’s neediest students. Stay tuned for future announcements on those upcoming actions in May!
LIKE CQE’s Facebook campaign to get up to date information: http://www.facebook.com/pages/
Senate hearing: http://www.calchannel.com/
Assembly hearing: http://www.calchannel.com/
AYPAL & OACC presents: THE 14TH ANNUAL MAY ARTS FESTIVAL! SAVE OUR STORIES, SUPPORT OUR STRUGGLES!
with PERFORMANCES by AYPAL YOUTH!Hip Hop, Spoken Word, and of course & Our Annual SILENT AUCTION!
Oakland Asian Cultural Center
Located in Chinatown
388 Ninth Street
between Franklin & Webster Streets
Oakland, CA 94607
Thursday, May 17th, 2012
DOORS: 5:30PM
SHOW: 6PM
All Donations are Appreciated!
Youth: $3-$5
Adults: $5-$20
Sliding scale
NO ONE TURNED AWAY DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS
AYPAL 10th Annual May Arts
- Akonadi Foundation
- Grousbeck Family Foundation
- Lunar Giving Circle, AAPIP
- Oakland Fund for Children & Youth
- Penney Family Fund
- Surdna Foundation
- Victor & Lorraine Honig Fund
If you are unable to attend AYPAL’s May Arts Festival & would still like to support,
please consider making a donation to AYPAL online!
AYPAL WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL OUR FAMILIES, COMMUNITY MEMBERS & ALLIES FOR THE CONTINUED SUPPORT!
Youth Persistent in Getting More Funding for Oakland Schools!
6 AYPAL Youth Leaders along with organizational members of the CQE were in Sacramento weighing in on statewide educational policy.
On March 19, AYPAL was back in Sacramento to advocate for the weighted student formula in the Governor’s Budget. Students shared their personal stories and pushed for a more equitable school funding system at the Assembly Budget Sub-Committee on Education. Here are some excerpts from the testimonies our leaders gave:
“[The weighted student formula] would make Oakland public schools work more for students and that would change a lot of people’s lives. Take my little brother for example, I really want better for him. We both come from a low income family. If they target low-income youth, my brother can break the cycle of poverty in my family. He could have everything that I couldn’t get. He could have all the resources, all the classes, all the activities! I want him to feel he can make it. I want him to know that he can make it. I think we should prioritize low income and ELL students. ”
- Tommy Phan (AYPAL Youth Intern, Sophomore at Oakland High School)
“I believe if no more money is given to education, at schools like mine courses are going to be cut, cut and cut. There won’t be any more electives or AP classes given to us, and basically we will have the core classes and this doesn’t prepare students for college. The school district is setting us up for failure in college.”
- Ryan Tern (AYPAL Youth Intern, Junior at Fremont High School)
To see the entire hearing click here.
AYPAL collaborates with OUSD for API Parent Conference – May 5
Asian & Pacific Islander Parent Conference
Information, Knowledge and Action to Plan for
College and Careers Now!
Providing information to empower Asian & Pacific Islander parents and students to take action for their education
Saturday, May 5, 2012
*9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
*8:30am Breakfast
Garfield Elementary School
1620 22nd Avenue, Oakland, CA 94606
Light breakfast and lunch – Childcare – Translation – Transportation – Raffle and Prizes
Information to be presented:
The K-12 Roadmap: Pre-K through high school graduation
- “New Kindergarten Requirements”: Pre-K to K Transition Programs & OptioN
- “Preparing for Graduation and College”: New OUSD Graduation Requirement
- “Linked Learning”: Career Academies and Pathways in High School
For more information contact Family, Schools, Community Partnerships Department:
Carolyn Delfino, VISTA Volunteer Coordinator, Carolyn.Delfino@ousd.k12.ca.us 510-434-7766 ext 234
Please Register Online: www.ousd.k12.ca.us/APIParentConference
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CO-HOSTED BY
Save-the-date: May Arts Festival 2012
As AYPAL moves forward making positive changes in our schools, what grounds our work, inspires our youth and allows us to outreach to the larger API community is our May Arts Festival that will be on Thursday, May 17, 2012! PLEASE SAVE THE DATE!
The youth have been busy learning, practicing and creating various performing arts: cultural dance, hip-hop dance, spoken word, and guerrilla theater. We’ve learned that through art, youth learn ethnic traditions and histories, while finding creative and empowering ways to discuss current issues and express themselves! Performances will include Cambodian, Mien, Filipino and Pacific Islander dances, guerilla theater, videos, and more.
WHAT: AYPAL’S 14th annual May Arts Festival
WHERE: OACC – 388 Ninth Street, Suite 290, Oakland, CA 94607
WHEN: Thursday, May 17, 2012. Doors open at 5:30, show starts at 6 pm.
Please bring your check books to participate in our silent auction in the lobby area!
$3 for youth; $5-$20 for adults *** No one turned away for lack of funds! ***
Our youth need your help to have an amazing event! We need to raise $5000 before May 17th to help pay for cultural teachers, costumes, and other event expenses! Donate here to support youth art activism!
AYPAL youth speaking up for educational funding equity!
AYPAL youth, Christopher Saechao (middle) and Nhi Nguyen (right), testify at a Senate Budget Committee Hearing this February. Photo by Tiffany Eng
“California has been facing many
budget cuts since 2007 and each of the
cuts have been leaving wounds on the
most neediest students.”
– Christopher Saechao, AYPAL youth
While improving our state’s public education system might seem like a daunting task, AYPAL is honing in on specific issue areas to make meaningful improvements to our schools — both locally and statewide!
In February, AYPAL Youth Leaders Nhi Nguyen and Christopher Saechao testified at a Senate Budget Hearing with other members of the Campaign for Quality Education (CQE) Coalition in support of Governor Brown’s proposal for a “weighted student formula”. This funding formula would help make our education system more equitable by taking student needs into account when giving money to school districts.
It’s a step in the right direction toward improving California’s public education system, especially for the low-income Asian and Pacific Islander immigrant and refugee families that AYPAL serves.
However, a fair funding formula isn’t enough – we also need to make sure that all schools have the kind of funding that once made California a top state in the nation for public education. Look out for progressive tax-the-rich initiatives on the November ballot that will increase public education funding!
PS. You can watch Nhi and Christopher’s full testimonies here: http://www.calchannel.com/channel/viewVideo/3331
Our Mission
AYPAL is a community organizing project dedicated to building the grassroots leadership of low-income Asian & Pacific Islander immigrant and refugee families in Oakland.
Our mission is to transform school and neighborhood inequities so that all people can be healthy, safe and thriving members of their communities.
AYPAL Thanks You!
Greeting AYPAL Friends & Supporters!
On behalf of AYPAL we would like to express our sincere and humble THANK YOU’s to everyone that came through to support AYPAL’s House Party & Pacquiao Fight Fundraiser on Saturday, November 12th!
Your generous donations and contributions will allow AYPAL to continue our work to build strong API movement leaders and advance our campaign to get Ethnic Studies for all students in the Oakland Unified School District.
As this larger movement for social change continues to build momentum both locally and across the country, we appreciate having these opportunities that allow us to keep building together, celebrating together, and growing together as a community.
PACQUIAO HOUSE PARTY #5
All proceeds will go towards supporting AYPAL’s Ethnic Studies campaign
* RSVP on Facebook *
Thank You from AYPAL!
On Wednesday, September 14th, 2011 we celebrated our new office space and AYPAL’s new identity as an independent, fiscally-sponsored organization by sharing stories and building community with the people that mattered the most to us. The supportive response that we received from everyone was truly heartwarming and inspiring.
The staff and youth at AYPAL would like to extend our deepest and sincerest thanks to all that attended AYPAL’s Office Warming party – whether it was to support our campaign to get Ethnic Studies classes in all Oakland schools, to learn more about our work to develop young movement leaders, or to make a donation so that AYPAL can continue doing the social change work that we’ve been doing for the past 14 years…we are truly appreciative of and are humbled by everyone’s outpouring of love and support!
To all who were not able to attend, your presence was still felt. AYPAL continues to be an organization that thrives off of the hard work and efforts of our many supporters. Thank you to all who have given so much to us in the past and who continue to sustain us today.
If you or someone you know wants to give to AYPAL, there are still other ways you can support us!
1) Make a Donation Online!
2) Donate Office Supplies
Check out our office wish list on our website! From markers to easel paper to projector light bulbs, we still are in great need of supplies for our new office space. If you don’t have supplies to give, you can also give us gift certificates for places that do.
3) Donate Your Time
AYPAL is always looking for great folks who want to get involved with AYPAL’s campaign or volunteer with us!
*** For more information on how you can support AYPAL’s Ethnic Studies campaign, please contact Armael Malinis, AYPAL Lead Organizer, at armael@aypal.org.
*** For other volunteer opportunities, please contact Tiffany Eng, AYPAL Co-Director, at tiffany@aypal.org.
Much love and gratitude,
The Staff and Youth of AYPAL
AYPAL OFFICE WARMING
Please Join AYPAL as We Celebrate Our Move to Downtown Oakland
and Kick-off Our 14th Year of Building API Youth Power!
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
5 pm – 7 pm
We are now located at:
The Movement Strategy Center
436 14th St. / 5th Floor / Oakland / CA / 94612
 Don’t Miss Out!
Performances and Videos by AYPAL Youth Leaders |
 Light refreshments will be served.
Children and families welcome! |
 For More InformationJay Conui 510-698-3838 Ext. 701 or Tiffany Eng 510-698-3838 Ext. 702 |
AYPAL Moves to MSC!
Dear AYPAL Family & Friends,
We have great news to share with you.
After 13 years of being a program of Asian Community Mental Health Services (ACMHS), AYPAL will begin a new journey as a fiscally sponsored organization of the Movement Strategy Center! We are extremely excited about this next stage of AYPAL’s development and we thank ACMHS for supporting this growth. We will take to the Movement Strategy Center all the lessons learned, humility, and liberatory conviction that have made AYPAL a strong leadership development and community organizing program.
As we make the transition, we would like to share our gratitude for AYPAL’s founding staff, our Funders & Donors, our community allies, and our past and current collaborative partners (ACMHS, Arts Research & Curriculum Associates, Oakland Asian Student Educational Services, Lao Iu Mien Cultural Association, Filipino Advocates for Justice, Korean Community Center of the East Bay) for helping us build a trailblazing organization in the East Bay. We also want to thank the Movement Strategy Center for their ongoing guidance and support, and for allowing AYPAL to continue its work of building grassroots community power.
AYPAL’s new office is located at:
Movement Strategy Center
436 – 14th Street, 5th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
Once we settle into our new space, we will be sending out a save the date open house invitation to celebrate the move.
We are looking to purchase office furniture and computers for our new home. You can help us meet some of our office needs by sending a monetary contribution to AYPAL today! Checks can be made payable to “Movement Strategy Center” with “AYPAL” written in the memo.
We thank you so much for your ongoing trust and support.
Sincerely,
Jay Conui & Tiffany Eng
AYPAL Co-Directors
3rd Annual Garage Sale Success!
The AYPAL staff & youth offers our humble THANK YOUs to all of our supporters for making AYPAL’S 3rd ANNUAL YARD SALE FUNDRAISER another success on Saturday, June 11th!
We appreciate everyone for sparing the time and energy into gathering and sorting through all of your items and donating! We had over 150+ of our local Oakland neighbors out in full support making your old junk into their new treasures — while having fun in the sun!
With all of your generous support, we will continue to build the power of Asian Pacific Islander youth and campaigning for Ethnic Studies in Oakland Unified School District!
Special Thanks To:
Eugenia Begay
Joy Liu
Yao Liam Saechao
Stanley Pun
Cindy Ke
The Tabios-Chounlamany Family
Asian Community Mental Health Services
Lotus Bloom Child & Family Resource Center
Retrofit Republic
THANKS AGAIN
To Each One of Our Wonderful Friends, Family, Allies, & Community Members
for making time to donate all of your treasured items!
AYPAL’s 3rd Annual Garage Sale!
Where:
Park Blvd Plaza
Located in Oakland’s Eastlake Neighborhood
Corner of Park Blvd & East 21st Street
*Across from Goodyear Tires*
Oakland, CA 94610
When:
SATURDAY
JUNE 11th, 2011
9AM-6PM
What:
Everything!!! This will be our biggest sale yet! (more…)
Thank You x 400
2011 May Arts Festival Dancers
On behalf of the AYPAL staff and youth, we would like to offer our sincere and humble
THANK YOU’s
to all for attending, donating and supporting AYPAL’s 13th Annual May Arts Festival!
We packed the house and had a record of 350+ of our Bay Area community members in attendance!
With your generous support, we will continue to build the power of Asian Pacific Islander youth and campaigning for Ethnic Studies in Oakland Unified School District!
Please view our Campaign Organizing Team’s video: True Life: We Need Ethnic Studies at OUSD to learn more about the AYPAL Ethnic Studies campaign!
THANK YOU!
FROM THE DEPTHS OF OUR HEARTS
For everyone who came through and supported AYPAL’s House Party & Pacquiao Fight Fundraiser this past Saturday, May 7, 2011!
Your generous donations and contributions will allow AYPAL to continue holding our annual May Arts Festival on May 19, 2011, and provide Arts and Activism classes to young people in Oakland.
Thank You from AYPAL!
Please STAY TUNED for our next AYPAL event!
If you were not able to make it out, and would LOVE to support our program, you can always donate, volunteer, and otherwise get involved with AYPAL!
Special Thank Yous to our supporters:
(more…)
AYPAL and OACC present:
the 13th ANNUAL MAY ARTS FESTIVAL!
KNOW HISTORY, KNOW SELF!
THURSDAY, MAY 19th, 2011
with PERFORMANCES by AYPAL YOUTH!
Showcasing: API Cultural Dances, Guerrilla Theater, Spoken Word, Visual Arts
and of course, RAFFLES, PRIZES & Our Annual SILENT AUCTION
co-sponsored by the Oakland Asian Cultural Center
and Chinatown Youth Center Initiative (the SPOT)
AYPAL Pacquiao House Party #4
Save the Date! AYPAL’s 4th Annual…
House Party & Pacquaio Fight Fundraiser!
Thank You!
FROM THE DEPTHS OF OUR HEARTS
For everyone who came through and supported AYPAL’s House Party & Pacquiao Fight Fundraiser this past Saturday, November 13th, 2010!
Your generous donations and contributions will allow AYPAL to continue holding our annual May Arts Festival in 2011, and provide Arts and Activism classes to young people in Oakland.
Thank You from AYPAL
Please STAY TUNED for our next AYPAL event!
If you were not able to make it out, and would LOVE to support our program, you can always donate, volunteer, and otherwise get involved with AYPAL!
Special Thank Yous to our supporters:
AYPAL Testifies at OUSD Meeting
See what Meaningful Student Engagement organizations have to say, as we testify at the Oakland Unified School Board meeting.
USSF 2010 – Day 3 Update
Video diary of day 3 in Detroit for the 2010 USSF:
- API Gathering
- Detroit Tour
- Vincent Chin’s grave site
- Asian & Pacific Islanders coming together to build, organize and network.
USSF 2010 – Day 1 Update
Video diary of our first day in Detroit for the 2010 USSF:
- Greektown
- Downtown Detroit
- Talks with the local community
- Prep for the week long experience!
Another World Is Possible, Another U.S. Is Necessary