0:00:10.258,0:00:13.649
It's no surprise that I work in education.

0:00:13.649,0:00:15.399
It's in my blood.

0:00:15.709,0:00:21.869
My grandmother Alberta, a proud Chicana,[br]lived in the projects in downtown Denver

0:00:21.869,0:00:23.408
and was in a gang.

0:00:24.078,0:00:25.783
She dropped out of school,

0:00:25.783,0:00:27.488
got pregnant with my dad

0:00:27.488,0:00:29.518
and went on welfare.

0:00:29.518,0:00:33.828
She realized the only way [br]to end this cycle of poverty and violence

0:00:33.828,0:00:35.631
was through education.

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So, as a single mom of three,

0:00:38.328,0:00:41.478
while my grandfather[br]was incarcerated in prison,

0:00:41.478,0:00:45.888
she crossed the street [br]from the projects to Auraria Campus

0:00:45.888,0:00:49.082
got her GED, bachelor's and master's

0:00:49.082,0:00:52.206
and became a social worker[br]for Denver public schools.

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(Applause)

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She was a social worker [br]for Denver public schools for 25 years.

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And she went to college,[br]my dad went to college,

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I went to college,

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and now my two Afro-Latino children,[br]Trey and Avianna, will go to college.

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(Applause)

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My grandmother single-handedly[br]transformed my family's trajectory

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for generations to come

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by pursuing an education.

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And it's why I wanted to become a teacher:

0:01:28.746,0:01:34.089
to transform the lives of other Latinx[br]and children of color like me.

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My first job at out of college

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was in a low-income community [br]in Los Angeles as a third-grade teacher.

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It was a closed campus,[br]meaning families are not allowed on site.

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They dropped off[br]their children in the morning

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and picked them up in the afternoon.

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What happened in between [br]was none of their business.

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Soon I realized[br]that this is a common mindset

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among teachers, principals[br]and superintendents across the country:

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that families don't have[br]a place in education.

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Time and time again,

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I've heard fellow educators [br]say things like,

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"Families don't care,"

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"They're too busy,"

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"They don't value education."

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So at worst, families are not included[br]in their children's education at all.

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At best, families are asked [br]to do volunteer activities

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like chaperoning field trips [br]or organizing bake sales.

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Neither of which have anything to do[br]with actual education

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and academic achievement.

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This persistent lack[br]of communication and separation

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between families and teachers

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leads to a complete breakdown in trust.

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You've seen it in the news.

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We fall into this endless cycle of,[br]"Who's at fault for our failing schools?"

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Teachers blame families.

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Families blame teachers.

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The only thing that they can agree on[br]is that the system isn't working.

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And it's true.

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The system isn't working,

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especially for our low-income students[br]and students of color,

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who continue to graduate [br]at rates far below their white peers.

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In Colorado,

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white students are graduating[br]from high school at 85%,

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black students are at 74%,

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and Latinx students are at 73%.

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Stats like these contribute[br]to mindsets and the education system

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that low income families[br]and families of color

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don't care, are too busy[br]and don't value education.

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But here's the thing.

0:03:43.365,0:03:44.835
As a teacher,

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I saw how much our low-income families[br]and families of color

0:03:48.695,0:03:52.005
wanted to be involved [br]in their children's education.

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They just weren't given a chance to.

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And no one showed them how to do it.

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So, I tried something different.

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At this point, I was teaching[br]kindergarten in East L.A.

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I invited all of my students'[br]families into my classroom

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and explained why two skills,[br]sight words and math facts,

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would be a big part [br]of their child's kindergarten success.

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I showed them how to practice sight words[br]and math facts at home

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and how often to do it.

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The results were miraculous.

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After connecting with students' families,

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I had one of the highest performing[br]kindergarten classes in the school.

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With families doing this work at home,

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their children were mastering [br]fundamental skills,

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and I was freed up to teach[br]above and beyond the standard curriculum.

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I felt like I had a true partnership[br]with my students' families.

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We were mutually invested[br]and mutually accountable.

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And my job was 1,000 times easier.

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And my students[br]were exceeding expectations.

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Then I realized

0:05:00.646,0:05:02.656
families are a sleeping giant.

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Once awakened to the inequities[br]that exist in our education system,

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there's nothing they won't do

0:05:10.148,0:05:14.407
to ensure that their children receive [br]the excellent education they deserve.

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And the system will never be the same.

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As educators, it must be[br]our top priority to engage families.

0:05:23.458,0:05:25.282
The only question is,

0:05:25.282,0:05:26.362
How?

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I co-founded RISE Colorado[br]to focus on family engagement full-time.

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We're based in Aurora, Colorado,

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an official refugee resettlement city

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and one of the most diverse [br]school districts and cities in the state

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with families from over 130 countries,

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speaking over 160 different languages.

0:05:49.229,0:05:51.890
At RISE, our theory of change is

0:05:51.890,0:05:55.821
that those most impacted [br]by the inequity that exists

0:05:55.821,0:05:58.871
must lead the movement[br]for change themselves,

0:05:58.881,0:06:03.773
just like Dr. King and African Americans[br]led the Civil Rights Movement

0:06:03.823,0:06:08.415
and Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez[br]led the Farmworkers' Movement.

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For education, that means we need[br]low-income families and families of color

0:06:14.119,0:06:16.774
to lead the movement [br]for educational equity

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with us alongside[br]and behind them as allies.

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(Applause)

0:06:24.899,0:06:26.799
And that makes sense, right?

0:06:26.799,0:06:31.327
The number one authorities [br]on the barriers families face

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and the challenges that they have

0:06:33.278,0:06:35.103
are the families themselves.

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Barriers like parent-teacher conferences[br]on a Thursday night from 5 to 7 pm.

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A time when many families[br]are working their second shift

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at jobs that are often[br]low wage and inflexible.

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Or barriers like school communications [br]that are only in English,

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when a family's native language is Nepali.

0:06:59.598,0:07:02.836
These barriers have simple fixes.

0:07:03.056,0:07:08.256
Low-income families and families of color[br]can tell us exactly what the fixes are.

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It's our job to educate,[br]engage and empower them.

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Just like we did with Diana.

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Like many immigrant families [br]arriving to the US,

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Diana assumed that the education system[br]would meet her daughter Miranda's needs.

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After all, this is the land[br]of opportunity, right?

0:07:30.461,0:07:34.122
But then we told Diana [br]about the opportunity gap

0:07:34.122,0:07:37.552
during one of our workshops[br]at her daughter's preschool

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She had no idea[br]that only 21% of third-graders

0:07:43.874,0:07:46.571
are reading on grade level in Aurora

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or that Latinx students'[br]reading proficiency rates

0:07:50.221,0:07:53.918
are less than half[br]than that of their white peers.

0:07:54.389,0:07:56.316
We co-hosted workshops

0:07:56.316,0:08:02.177
and taught Diana skills and strategies[br]to support Miranda's learning at home.

0:08:02.439,0:08:06.473
For example, to prevent[br]the four-million-word gap,

0:08:06.478,0:08:11.066
Diana now reads to Miranda[br]at least 20 minutes every night.

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And it's paying off.

0:08:13.069,0:08:15.509
Miranda is now one[br]of the top-performing students

0:08:15.509,0:08:17.552
in her second-grade class.

0:08:17.552,0:08:20.176
(Applause)

0:08:22.202,0:08:26.294
Diana's involvement[br]went beyond Miranda's success.

0:08:26.804,0:08:30.864
We engaged and empowered Diana[br]to lead systemic change

0:08:30.864,0:08:33.297
along with other family leaders.

0:08:33.927,0:08:35.750
After ICE raids,

0:08:35.750,0:08:40.437
Diana and other RISE family leaders[br]wrote and led a resolution

0:08:40.437,0:08:44.997
to support students [br]regardless of documentation status.

0:08:44.997,0:08:47.866
(Applause)

0:08:51.814,0:08:55.860
They collected [br]over 800 signatures of support,

0:08:55.860,0:09:00.317
met with school board members, [br]district officials and the superintendent.

0:09:00.657,0:09:02.532
It was a hard-fought battle.

0:09:02.532,0:09:07.289
But in the end, three Republicans,[br]three Democrats and one Independent

0:09:07.289,0:09:09.353
voted in support of the resolution,

0:09:09.353,0:09:12.473
and it passed with the seven-zero votes.

0:09:12.473,0:09:14.863
Low-income families and families of color

0:09:14.863,0:09:16.778
are proving time and time again

0:09:16.778,0:09:21.061
that they are architects, [br]and not just objects of policy.

0:09:21.501,0:09:25.672
And this is just one of many [br]incredible organizing wins

0:09:25.672,0:09:29.515
by our African-American, Latinx, Burmese,

0:09:29.515,0:09:34.205
Karen, Karenni, Bhutanese[br]and Nepali families.

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To meet their language needs,

0:09:36.526,0:09:41.279
RISE family leaders work to improve[br]interpretation and translation services

0:09:41.279,0:09:43.158
district-wide

0:09:43.158,0:09:45.634
by co-creating language ID cards

0:09:45.634,0:09:48.170
and a central language services office

0:09:48.170,0:09:51.666
alongside Aurora[br]school district officials.

0:09:51.666,0:09:55.002
The majority of RISE family leaders

0:09:55.002,0:09:59.256
cannot vote and are learning[br]to speak English.

0:09:59.311,0:10:01.711
But through the power of their stories

0:10:01.711,0:10:04.434
and their ability to create [br]strong relationships

0:10:04.434,0:10:06.077
with district officials,

0:10:06.077,0:10:10.361
they're able to move[br]a school district of 40,000 students

0:10:10.361,0:10:12.846
to make systemic change.

0:10:13.263,0:10:16.180
(Applause)

0:10:19.300,0:10:22.282
I'm a big fan of the musical "Hamilton."

0:10:22.694,0:10:28.071
And like Lin-Manuel Miranda said,[br]"Immigrants: we get the job done,"

0:10:28.073,0:10:30.548
(Applause)

0:10:30.550,0:10:34.533
these families are getting the job done,

0:10:34.833,0:10:40.122
improving the education system[br]for everyone, not just their own children.

0:10:40.762,0:10:45.456
It's time for families and educators[br]to become true partners.

0:10:45.673,0:10:49.298
That means families are seen[br]as decision-makers

0:10:49.298,0:10:52.151
and have seats in decision-making tables,

0:10:52.811,0:10:57.584
that we trust families to surface[br]the complex challenges they're facing

0:10:57.584,0:10:59.968
and create their own solutions,

0:11:00.148,0:11:06.150
and that educators are co-creating [br]learning experiences alongside families

0:11:06.150,0:11:08.620
to improve academic achievements

0:11:08.620,0:11:12.327
and are trusting[br]families' expertise and guidance.

0:11:13.077,0:11:17.968
If we do not support low-income families[br]and families of color

0:11:17.968,0:11:20.949
to lead the movement [br]for educational equity,

0:11:20.949,0:11:23.504
we're going to be having [br]these same conversations

0:11:23.504,0:11:25.890
in the next 10 or 20 years.

0:11:26.210,0:11:27.818
Students of color

0:11:27.818,0:11:31.967
will continue to graduate[br]at rates far below their white peers

0:11:31.967,0:11:34.265
if the system doesn't change.

0:11:34.705,0:11:37.500
But our fates are intertwined.

0:11:37.500,0:11:40.841
And if the education system[br]is failing students of color,

0:11:40.841,0:11:42.924
then it's failing all of us.

0:11:42.924,0:11:45.344
Families are ready to lead.

0:11:45.504,0:11:48.697
It's time to awaken the sleeping giant.

0:11:49.232,0:11:50.253
Thank you.

0:11:50.253,0:11:53.005
(Cheers) (Applause)