Public Employee Press

22nd annual Somos Conference
Battle gets hot over school control

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Workshops and panels at the 22nd annual Somos Conference, held on the April 3-5 weekend in Albany, addressed pressing issues for the Latino communities of New York State, such as helping immigrants achieve fair wages and working conditions, the growing epidemic of childhood obesity and the destructive wave of home foreclosures. Over 500 activists from community groups, DC 37 and other unions as well as elected officials and labor leaders participated.

A panel on mayoral control of the school system drew a packed house of parents, students, educators and unionists. With the School Governance Law, which granted control of the school system to the mayor, set to expire on June 30, the panelists presented points of view on what should come next and the discussion grew heated at times.

The panel’s most prominent advocate of mayoral control was Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, who vigorously defended the current law, citing improved graduation rates and test scores.

However, Carmen Alvarez, vice president of the United Federation of Teachers, pointed out some sobering statistics, including that three out of four students in the Bushwick section of Brooklyn drop out of school. While other cities across the country have similar laws, Ana Maria Archila, co-executive director of Make the Road New York, characterized the New York City structure as “the most extreme form, because it concentrates most of the power in the mayor.”

Pioneers honored

An important voice on the panel was Santos Crespo, executive vice president, Board of Education Employees Local 372, which represents 25,000 members who work in city schools. Crespo hit hard at the mayor and chancellor for contracting out public services and jobs to the private sector and criticized the school system for inadequate parent and community participation. “The bottom line is that this school governance law is not working,” said Santos. “It is not working for our community, and it is not democratic.”

The conference theme, “Honoring our pioneers,” was reflected in tributes to two leaders with years of distinguished public service: Olga A. Mendez, the first Puerto Rican woman elected to a state legislature in the United States, and the late Angelo del Toro, who served in the state legislature from 1975 to 1994.

Mendez, who represented the 28th Senate District, encompassing parts of the Bronx and Manhattan, was unanimously chosen by her peers in 1989 to chair the Senate Democratic Puerto Rican and Hispanic Task Force. Her many achievements include chairing the Senate Labor Committee and leading nationwide voter registration drives.

Del Toro was only 27 in 1974 when he became the youngest member ever elected to the New York State Assembly. He was a staunch advocate of affirmative action, youth training programs, public education and housing for senior citizens.

The conference’s traditional Saturday morning labor breakfast honored important union activists and labor-friendly elected officials. Local 371 Secretary-Treasurer Joe Nazario presented the Legislative Award to Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV. “He has always been there for the community and the labor movement,” said Sonia Ivany, president of the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement. Minerva Soya, a member of Local 1199, was acknowledged for her role in organizing workers at Roosevelt Hospital.