Jennifer Gonzales, mother of five children in the Denver public school system and active parent leader in Denver's PICO affiliate Metro Organizations for People (MOP), took the stage Sunday with elected officials, school leaders, education reform advocates, and civil rights groups from across the country to call on leaders of the Democratic Party to steer federal public education policy in a new direction.

"I have been to meetings at the capital while advocating for Colorado's Schools Innovation Act and I was astonished when all the discussion was about the adults working in the system and how the bill could or would hurt them," testified Gonzales. "Education is about the children, or at least it used to be.  It is my belief that the biggest challenge we are facing is how we, as a nation, and the next administration, bring our focus and energy back onto our children."

MOP and PICO sponsored the "Ed Challenge for Change" event, which coincided with the start of the Democratic National Convention this week in Denver. The goal of the forum was to pressure the Democratic Party to broaden their support for innovative policies and practices to improve the quality of public education for low-income and minority children. MOP and PICO will be sponsoring a similar event to coincide with the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis in September.

Participants, including Ms. Gonzales; Cory Booker, Mayor of Newark; Adrian Fenty, Mayor of Washington, D.C.; Rev. Al Sharpton; Delia Pompa, Vice President for Education at the National Council of La Raza; Colorado State Senate President Peter Groff; and Joel Klein, the Chancellor of New York City Schools, laid out core principles and priorities for reforming federal policy, including: universal access to quality early childhood education programs, expanded charter school access, improved accountability measures, extended school days and school years, new teacher recruitment strategies, and new funding allocation.

"One way to get real reform is to increase support for community organizing in schools," says Gonzales. "The experience of MOP and our sister organizations in the PICO National Network proves the importance of organized parents like me, who learn to build a powerful parent, student and community voice."  

For more information on Metro Organizations for People, visit www.mopdenver.org

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