What We Do
The heart and soul of Speak UP’s work is parent engagement. We offer Leadership Training and workshops to help parents understand the education system, know your rights within it and how to advocate for your kids and all kids to get a better education. Our communications team keeps parents informed and up to date with coverage of key education news and opinion through Board Watch, Sacramento Watch, blogs and social media. Our political engagement team helps empowered and informed parents lead state and local advocacy and electoral campaigns to ensure that our leaders support educational justice policies that put kids first.
Know Your Rights!
Our parent workshop series will help you understand how to navigate the educational bureaucracy, especially on behalf of our most vulnerable kids.
You can find a workshop near you here.
Workshops:
ENGAGE
At Speak UP we believe that parents should have a more powerful voice in education policy. Kids don't have lobbyists, and kids don't have a union. Kids have parents, and parents are the only people whose sole interest is the success of kids. In this series, we take a closer look at power relationships at the LAUSD and provide resources for parents to be leaders in their communities. Change happens when people come together, know their rights and are ready to act.
KNOW
This workshop will focus on the importance of knowledge in advocacy. In order to advocate successfully, we have to know the facts -- about educational outcomes and about the decision-making process. At Speak UP, we believe that all children deserve the same opportunities for a high-quality education. Unfortunately, some students fall behind because their needs are not appropriately addressed. We will examine English learners, kids with special needs and students/ schools that fall behind in the system.
ACT
In this workshop, we focus on the organizing cycle. This is a method to support leaders to build relationships, engage more parents and take effective action to publicly advocate for change within LAUSD. We will examine what steps are needed in order to have a group of organized parents and community members. We will also discuss what it takes to be a parent leader within Speak UP.
ENGLISH LEARNERS WORKSHOP
Do you know if your child is an English Learner? And the process of getting your child reclassified as English proficient? In this workshop we explore how to identify students as English Language Learners, the supports that should be provided by parents, teachers and administrators, and the process for students to become fluent in English.
IEP PROCESS & HOW TO ADVOCATE FOR YOUR CHILD
Have you asked for an evaluation for your child with special needs and been turned away? Is your child’s school not providing an adequate Individualized Education Program or failing to follow through with the IEP? The IEP Process workshop explains to parents and children with disabilities their basic rights and how to access them. The workshop also helps you create an IEP that truly supports your child’s particular needs, so that you can focus on strengthening your child’s abilities.
SPECIAL EDUCATION IN LAUSD & ORGANIZING FOR CHANGE
Many families in LAUSD are struggling with the same problems educating their kids with special needs. Their kids are routinely denied needed services or enough hours of services or correct placement in schools. There are many systems in LAUSD that create these problems, and it requires an organized effort on behalf of parents to change this. Please join us in this workshop that describes the structure and various systems at play in LAUSD, and how to come together to demand change for all kids with special needs.
EDUCATING THE EDUCATORS
How are teachers prepared and supported to serve our students with special needs? This workshop explores the certification process of California teachers, and how they are equipped to meet the needs of students with disabilities.
BEHAVIOR INTERVENTIONISTS
How are BII’s trained to support students with special needs? This workshop explores the training and certification process for behavior interventionists in California schools, and how they are prepared to work with students with disabilities.
PUBLIC SCHOOL OPTIONS WORKSHOP
This workshop gives parents an overview of all the different types of school options within LAUSD, while also giving them the tools to choose the schools that are the best fit their kids. After a rigorous research process, this three-part workshop culminates with parents selecting the schools they would like their kids to attend.
Upcoming Workshops
For questions please email workshops@speakupparents.org.
