My name is Sayuri Valenza and I am a special education teacher at Bret Harte Middle School and member of the CAC. I know firsthand how important it is for you, the School Board, to understand and support the work we are doing. We are up against a mindset that has been cultivated by our teaching credential programs. Teachers think of themselves as either general education teachers or special education teachers and we view our students through this same lens. This is one reason why disability justice education is so important. Regardless of whether or not you are directly involved with special education students, we all have to be intentional about developing a truly inclusive mindset so we can create truly inclusive school communities. We want to educate our leaders and colleagues, so together we can create a school culture that will give all students the opportunity to grow and thrive and feel like equal members of their school communities. Thank you.
As an Oakland parent and staff with Public Advocates, I want to express my deep appreciation for the work of our CAC leaders and the gift of this presentation. I have grown so much in learning about disability justice from staff Cintya Molina and many of the CAC and PSAC members and am excited to make real a true vision of community schools where our students with dis/abilities are centered and fully feel that they belong. Over the years, I have come to understand that there is no racial justice without disability justice. Disability justice must be an essential component of professional learning for all our staff and our school communities as well an important piece of our equity lens for school and district planning. Our schools need resources to ensure that they can address the gaps that currently exist for our students with dis/abilities. That way families of students with dis/abilities and the students themselves would not have to fight so hard for the education they deserve.
My name is Sayuri Valenza and I am a special education teacher at Bret Harte Middle School and member of the CAC. I know firsthand how important it is for you, the School Board, to understand and support the work we are doing. We are up against a mindset that has been cultivated by our teaching credential programs. Teachers think of themselves as either general education teachers or special education teachers and we view our students through this same lens. This is one reason why disability justice education is so important. Regardless of whether or not you are directly involved with special education students, we all have to be intentional about developing a truly inclusive mindset so we can create truly inclusive school communities. We want to educate our leaders and colleagues, so together we can create a school culture that will give all students the opportunity to grow and thrive and feel like equal members of their school communities. Thank you.
As an Oakland parent and staff with Public Advocates, I want to express my deep appreciation for the work of our CAC leaders and the gift of this presentation. I have grown so much in learning about disability justice from staff Cintya Molina and many of the CAC and PSAC members and am excited to make real a true vision of community schools where our students with dis/abilities are centered and fully feel that they belong. Over the years, I have come to understand that there is no racial justice without disability justice. Disability justice must be an essential component of professional learning for all our staff and our school communities as well an important piece of our equity lens for school and district planning. Our schools need resources to ensure that they can address the gaps that currently exist for our students with dis/abilities. That way families of students with dis/abilities and the students themselves would not have to fight so hard for the education they deserve.