• FACT: According to 2007-2008 data, our high school district, Jefferson Union High School District (JUHSD) on average had $5,237 to spend on each student. Only 12.5 miles down the Peninsula, San Mateo Union High School District had $8,077 for each of their students; just 25 miles away, Sequoia Union High School District had $10,611 to support each of theirs; and a mere 32 miles on the other end of the county, Palo Alto Unified School District had $7,809 to use to educate the youth in their area. Compared to the lowest of these numbers, JUHSD had $2,572 less per student to work with.
• FACT: According to 2007-2008 data, JUHSD had $1,219,824 less to spend on its students compared to the average “Per Pupil Spending” amount of all California Schools. Factor in the budget cuts we’ve already sustained since 2007-2008, and you have to wonder…

There are very few of us who would argue that the quality of public education has a direct relationship with the prosperity of our local communities as well as that of the entire state. We’re often shocked to hear that California ranks #48 amongst the 50 United States in terms of how much money it invests in the education of its young people. It’s clear, we have de-prioritized education.

Daly City and Northern San Mateo County schools know these facts from experience. Our school districts are not only underfunded compared to the rest of the state but also compared to more than 70% of our county. Couple this fact with the area’s largely immigrant and working class population which requires a unique set of educational resources, it is clear that our schools are under-funded; by no means do we have the resources required to adequately address the needs of our population.

And just who lives in Daly City? We’re more than just “that place with the Target and the movie theater that’s less crowded than Metreon.” Of Daly City’s 101,514 residents (2008 estimated), 35.4% are Filipino, 24.9% are Latino, 19.5% are Asian, 15.7% are of European descent, 4.56% are African American, 0.44% are Native American, and 2.4% are Pacific Islander. The 2008 median income for a Daly City household was $60,310, and the median income for an entire family was $66,365. Daly City is also one of the most densely populated cities in the country with a 2008 population density of 15,703.8 people per square mile. However, Daly City’s per capita income for the city was merely $22,900. The result? About 5.2% of Daly City families and 9.1% of our residents live below the poverty line.

Recognizing the facts surrounding the under-funding of California’s schools will be important in the next few years as this debate about our investment in Public Education continues. As a community, we need to understand that the February 2009 and the upcoming cuts to the State’s Public Education Budget mean that we will actually be further crippling schools that have already been forced to operate on fumes. How much longer can we ask Public Educators to “be creative” or “efficient”? How can anyone be asked to save when their accounts are way too low as it is?

As a community, we need to come together to understand these issues and find ways that we can support our schools directly as well as advocate for their well-being. Even those of us who do not work in schools or have children of school-age should be concerned about the long-term effects an under-funded school system could have on the future of our neighborhoods. Please join us in the months to come as we struggle to find ways to unite Northern San Mateo in defense of our Public Schools. Please contact us at KalayaanSchoolForEquity@gmail.com or by phone at (650) 641-2891 x573.

To support our local school district, we’ve put together a 35-50 minute (depending on how deeply you decide to engage students/audience members) Apple Keynote and PowerPoint lesson that we invite all to download, distribute, and most importantly use on March 4th and beyond. We hope you’ll find it to be a valuable tool to raise awareness about how our local schools are funded and the short and long-term effects that further cuts could have on Northern San Mateo County. Included is some eye-opening data about the per pupil spending of our local schools, how that compares to other districts on the Peninsula, and info about California’s Economy that offers some interesting perspective on the issue. Of course, if you’re a Cali resident but aren’t living in Daly City, Pacifica, Colma (snicker), or South SF, some of the specific info might not apply directly, but—we’re really sorry to say—chances are most of it will connect to you and your community.

• If you want to download a low-res PDF of the presentation to preview it, click here. (PDF 1.4MB)
• If you’re on a Mac that has Keynote, click here. (Keynote 7MB zip)
• If you’re on a Windows PC or a Mac that doesn’t have Keynote, click here. It’s definitely not as pretty, but works just fine. (PowerPoint 10.6MB zip)

We’re currently working on other support materials such as other lessons, handouts, etc., so keep checking back. Kalayaan School for Equity is hoping to work up to a larger campaign to gather broader community support for our local schools. If you’re interested in helping out, please contact us at KalayaanSchoolForEquity@gmail.com or at (650) 641-2891 x573.

Let’s face it, living as an undocumented immigrant is scary enough, but post-9/11 politics have made things even harder. As it stands, there is currently no path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, so, in addition to the constant fear of deportation and the psychological issues that come with a constant feeling of being socially outcast, now there is an even stronger ambivalence about the sort of future one can build in this country. Put simply, one can work as hard as they can in school or work (or both), but as of right now there’s no guarantee that one’s diligent educational and employment self-development, achievements overall and contribution to the US economy will be rewarded with a change in status; there’s always the chance that you might be deported.

For the Filipino Community in the US, this is a major issue. Philippine Migration is a fact of life for Filipinos. More than 2,000 of us leave our Philippine homeland each day in search of work because, put simply, there is little to be found back home. The reality is clear: If you want a future for you and your family, you should really consider working abroad.

A common destination for various reasons is the United States of America. Now, according to the 2000 Census [PDF], there are 1,369,070 people living in the United States who were born in the Philippines. This of course doesn’t account for the children of Filipino immigrants, but it gives us some idea of how large a population we’re talking about. Unfortunately though, there is currently a backlog of up to a 22 year wait for visas. Now, if there are little to no economic opportunities for you and your family back home, one can see the temptation to not wait 22 years and consider the route of undocumented immigration.

Current estimates place the TNT (Tago ng Tago…a Tagalog colloquial phrase for undocumented immigrants which roughly translates to “constantly in hiding”) population at 260,000, with acknowledgements that this may be conservative considering how these numbers are derived. Put simply, it’s really hard to convince a person to report sensitive information to a government agency like the Census Bureau if you’re “hiding” and scared of being discovered. Which brings us to the upcoming Census.

KSE believes it is critical for all persons of Philippine descent to participate in Census 2010, regardless of status. It is the data collected from this process that is used to determine the pool of resources available for much needed community services. The Census Bureau states it best:

Census data directly affect how more than $300 billion per year in federal and state funding is allocated to communities for neighborhood improvements, public health, education, transportation and much more. That’s more than $3 trillion over a 10-year period. Spending just a few minutes to fill out your census form will help ensure your community gets its fair share of federal and state funding.

If our kababayan, for whatever reason, fail to participate in the upcoming Census, the results would only limit our access to a pool of resources we could use to raise awareness around the issues that face our community. These issues, of course, include the state of immigration in this country.

But for undocumented immigrants the question remains: Is sharing your information with the Census Bureau safe? By all accounts, yes. In an interview with the New York Community Media Alliance, regional Census manager Allison Cenac emphasized the Census Bureau’s commitment to confidentiality, stating that it will not share its data with any other federal agency and further conveying that any Census worker sharing personal data from a questionnaire will be doing so at the risk of serious penalties: up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $200,000.

KSE is quite sensitive to the concerns of our undocumented community members and completely understands the hesitance to share sensitive information that could put themselves and their families at risk of deportation. However, in the case of Census 2010, we believe that the risk is minimal and that the benefits could actually help in the ongoing struggle for immigration reform. We are currently considering different projects that we can put into action during the upcoming months to promote our community’s participation in the upcoming Census. A boycott would help no one.