Welcome to our first e-newsletter of 2010, on race and education.  We proudly dedicate this issue to the life and work of our friend and colleague, Jack Daniel, who passed away on January 2 after a four-year fight with cancer.  In what we believe Jack would call a decades long journey and adventure, rather than a career, Jack devoted his life to representing and advocating alongside poor people, most recently in one of several stints with Central California Legal Services (CCLS), as well as with California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc., East Texas Legal Services and the Fresno County Public Defender.  He developed expertise in innumerable substantive areas of the law, but was best known for his fierce dedication to enforcing the rights of and empowering young people, particularly in the areas of education and language rights and juvenile justice.

Through his appointment to the Fresno County Juvenile Court Advisory Committee by the Honorable Denise Whitehead, Judge, Fresno Superior Court, Jack helped develop and implement operational changes to provide more rehabilitation, mental and physical health services to youth, including establishing an alternative Mental Health Court to address the rehabilitative needs of youth with serious mental illness in the juvenile system.  In Comite de Padres v. State Superintendent of Public Education, et al., Jack and his co-counsel obtained a consent decree forcing the California Department of Education to monitor and enforce the rights of 1.5 million English language learner students in schools throughout the state.  Though the consent decree was dissolved, the state continued to monitor and enforce the language rights of the affected children thereafter.  In Pazmino v. California State Board of Education, Jack and his co-counsel successfully challenged the Board of Education’s enactment of regulations that made it impossible for bi-lingual programs to participate in Reading First, a program of No Child Left Behind.

These are but a few examples of Jack’s ground-breaking work.  Jack lived and practiced by his fervent belief that all of our children, without regard to economic status, race, ethnicity, language, disability or placement in the juvenile justice system, should have access to quality mental health care, good reading programs and a quality education overall.  Through the articles in this issue, which illustrate and represent the strong education advocacy our colleagues are engaging in around the country, Jack’s spirit lives on.

The three contributors to this e-newsletter each bring their own unique perspective to education advocacy.  We hope that you will find their articles informative and inspiring.

How to End the Criminalization of Students of Color: Lessons from Louisiana – by Annie Balck, program and policy associate at National Juvenile Justice Network, and Gina Womack, executive director of Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children.

Advocating for Improved School Climate – by Diana Tate Vermeire, Racial Justice Director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California

Complexities Aside, Race is Still a Factor: How Racially Disparate Discipline is Discussed – by Tammi Wong, volunteer attorney at Legal Services of Northern California

Do you have an idea for a future e-newsletter? Would you like to share the race-based work that you are doing with others interested in achieving race equity? Drop us an email. We would love to hear from you!

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