DAY 3

April 9th, 2014

Today was a filled with knowledge and advice from wonderful leaders. We started off the day at Students First. This Non-Profit organization seeks to improve the educational system in the United States, putting the interests of children before anything else. We were very fortunate to hear from three leaders from the organization, who shared with us the insight into their latest education policy, the legislative process of the relationship with the state law, and ultimately, ways in which to implement these measures into school systems around the nation. A key point was that was covered today was the effect of socioeconomic status in education. I believe that this is a prevalent aspect in our society today and it is indeed affecting our children at the academic level. Though this is certainly a pertinent factor to the achievement gap between high and low income students, Students First makes it a point that as an organization they cannot wait for poverty to end in order for an effective and up to date education system to begin. I really appreciated this stance, because I too, agree that if we wait for poverty to end, we may be waiting a lifetime and our students cannot afford to wait. Learning about Students First opened up my eyes about the challenges that our education system faces today, such as redistricting measures in order to introduce diversity to many schools. I hope that if Sacramento switches to a strong mayor system, the education system can be transformed little by little with the hopes to impact the rest of California. The second item in our agenda included getting a tour of Sacramento City Hall. The most exciting part of today for me was meeting Sacramento’s Mayor Kevin Johnson.  His passion for education was very inspiring. It is this passion that both Kevin Johnson and wife Michelle Rhee share for education that leads me to believe that there are great changes towards education coming our way. “Farm to Fork”, is another initiative that Kevin Johnson shared with us, with the vision to turn Sacramento into a leader in agriculture and becoming a green capital. We ended our day visiting the office of the Attorney General Kamala Harris. Not only was this exciting because the Attorney General is a very powerful individual, but the grandeur of the building also added to the experience.  Though we did not get to meet Kamala Harris, we had the opportunity to speak to her Assistant General Attorney who answered many of our questions. I have had an enriching experience thus far, and I look forward to seeing the rest of beautiful Sacramento!


-Stephanie Ramirez