META's opponents in Valeria G. v. Wilson don't seem to care. Escobedo is indignant. I think the one good thing that's come out of all this is that communities are becoming more proactive. 227 definitely was a wake-up call, especially to immigrant communities. For Escobedo, organized parent groups are crucial to the fight for a decent education for language minority students.
Many school districts give a lot of lip service to parent involvement.
But when they really start asking questions, start demanding things, and start saying 'we want to be part of the decision-making process,' over and over I see school districts back off from their commitment to parental involvement. They need to start holding school boards more accountable, they need to learn the language of 'school reform,' and I think they need to work better with other groups. Advocates for immigrant students' rights also need to know who has the power to affect what goes on in our schools. A frequently overlooked arena of struggle, according to Escobedo, is the State Board of Education. In California, the governor appoints board members who, among other things, choose the textbooks for the state's public schools.