The USVI Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), in partnership with the St. Croix Foundation, invites parents and education stakeholders to an important informational forum on Educational Equity and Parent Choice. The event is scheduled for Firday, Aug. 13 and Saturday, Aug. 14, and will be held in the Cardiac Care Center Conference Room at the Gov. Juan F. Luis Hospital, St. Croix.
The forum will kick off on Friday, evening at 6 p.m. with a presentation of the documentary “The Lottery,” which was released earlier this summer and delves into the ferocious debate surrounding the education reform movement in Harlem, New York. It is one of four documentary films being released this year about the inequities in public education and provides a powerful depiction of all sides of the emotionally charged issues surrounding what some are calling the greatest civil rights issue of our time.
On Saturday, the forum will commence at 8:30 a.m. with a presentation from the CEO of the National PTA, who will share the PTA’s platfrom on educational equity and opportunities for children. Additional presenters will include Kelly Hurley from Green Dot Public Schools, who will share a compelling story about how Green Dot is rapidly closing the achievement gap for students of color and transforming some of Los Angeles’ worst public schools. Also presenting will be Allison Rouse, a representative of KIPP (the Knowledge Is Power Program), one of the highest performing charter schools in the nation. Rouse will provide information about an exciting new initiative that KIPP is launching to share their successful educational model and best practices with communities seeking to rapidly reform their educational systems.
According to newly elected PTSA President Alvin Bedneau, “Through this forum, the PTSA seeks to begin an information-based discusssion about successful educational strategies that can provide parents greater options and empower community stakeholders to make informed decisions about how to improve the quality of education our children receive.” Bedneau hopes that this event will serve to reestablish the PTSA as a major voice in the push for high quality educational opportunities for the children of the Virgin Islands.
As the main sponsor of this forum, the St. Croix Foundation represents the kind of partner the PTSA hopes to encourage to join the cause of improving educational quality here in the territory. According to the Foundation’s COO Deanna James, “The Foundation’s partnership with the PTSA is a perfect fit. Having provided over half a million dollars in direct (and indirect) support to the Virgin Islands public school system over the past five years, the Foundation is committed to increasing public awareness of, and commitment to, innovative and sustainable public education reform strategies.” “Today, recognizing the indisputable fact that our young people are in crisis, it is the Foundation’s primary aim to empower parents and other community stakeholders to become informed and active advocates for our children,” James said.
This weekend’s forum represents the first in a series of informational symposiums that the PTSA plans to host in the upcoming months. Bedneau is urging all parents, policy makers and community stakeholders to come out and support the PTSA as they seek to initiate this critically important, information-based discussion on educational equity and parent choice.
The event is free of charge and space is very limited. For more information on the forum, call the St. Croix Foundation at 773-9898 or contact the St. Croix PTSA at 277-8117.
