More big news. In the last two weeks both the National Indian Youth Leadership Project and UNM-Gallup have signed on as Mentor Organizations. In this way they will continue to support us publicly because of our shared interest in founding a school committed to excellent and relevant Indigenous Education for the students in and around Gallup.
Great news, friends. Superintendent Chiapetti told us recently that he thought our ideas was worth considering, and said we should be a discussion item on the school board agenda January 20th! This is big news. It means we get a chance to tell our story in front of some folks who haven't necessarily been in support of our idea previously. It also means anyone who wants to make public comment can come and speak in support of our proposed school. Come one, come all, January 20th, 5:45pm, at the GMCS central offices.
This is a huge opportunity for us. Charter schools in New Mexico have the choice to be authorized by the local school district, in which case the school board makes the decision, or to charter with the state Public Education Commission, a 10-member, elected board. Our philosophy is that we would love to charter with our local school district. Doing so allows us to share resources (like facilities, busses, and food services), allows us to learn from each others successes, shows a commitment to supporting local education, and mitigates the costs for the school district of "losing" students. Based on my meetings with school board members, we would almost certainly lose a vote 2-3 or 1-4 today. But this invitation is promising. If we can turn out a bunch of audience members to show there is interest while also bringing up folks to speak during public comment on our behalf, I think we have a chance, at best, to change the minds of the school board members or, at worst, to at least force them to show their cards about their position on equitable and relevant Indigenous Education. Tell your friends, your family, your students, your neighbors and come out January 20th, 5:45 pm, GMCS central offices. |
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