Climbing to the Top of Education Reform: One Latina Woman's Story

I look back now at a list that I created when I was no more than 15 years old, the daughter of a Honduran immigrant and high school dropout that had once been told by a teacher that I wasn’t college material.

I wrote on that list, “I want to serve my country. I want to complete college and learn the best practices to leave a better world behind.”

As naïve as that may have seemed at the time for someone disenchanted and barely attending high school, I look back twenty years later and see the seeds of my passion for social change. Despite the odds and low expectations, I became the first in my family to complete college, graduated at the top of my class, attended one of the most prestigious graduate schools in the county (Harvard Kennedy School), served proudly and con ganas as a teacher on the Texas-Mexico border, helped students turn around the statistics and create new life trajectories, and became involved in large scale education reform – creating my own path to both personal and social justice.

September marks a Back to School energy that will soon sweep much of our nation, with President Obama speaking to our children about the path that they can create. I challenge you to consider a commitment to education reform, the civil rights issue of our generation.

Here are some ways you can have an impact or chart your own pathway.

Go Back to School. Are you considering an additional credential? Programs focused on education reform are popping up across a variety of disciplines – business, education, policy schools and at the undergraduate level, more interdisciplinary studies allow us to start blending the best principles from each area of study to improve our teaching, school administration, or other education related interests.

Be a Citizen Teacher. There’s a great organization called Citizen Schools that is tackling the 21st Century with a new model. Not enough teachers or skilled teachers to prepare the next generation? Are classes boring for many of our students? For 15 years, backed by results and by brain research to support this new model of teaching, Citizen Schools has brought in thousands of volunteers to share their passions with students through apprenticeships. Be part of the solution by volunteering to teach or create an apprenticeship. It is a great entre into our education system and may inspire your direction.

Sign Up. I’ve often been asked “You are so young, how do you know all this?” The answer is that I sign up. Whether it be helping sweep or design a new school, volunteer with an advocacy group, actively advise those running for office or volunteer on campaigns, I found that simply signing up – being in the room – has made the most difference to my own learning and my own experiences. It expanded my network, and helped me contribute to communities across the country. Think outside of the box, regardless of your starting point and background. Not finding what you want? Create it.

My own path wasn’t always easy. As a Latina student from a low-income family in political decision making circles, I was rarely surrounded by change agents that easily understood the circumstances our students and communities face and could often be distracted by the fad or the priorities of an elite. I was also fortunate to come across some of the most progressive organizations that were changing this tide and also passionately committed to leaving a better America behind. There are more organizations than even a decade ago that are engaging our next generation to take a lead to make the changes our country needs and to raise the expectations of all children. The importance of having such a perspective in those rooms and in those leadership positions cannot be underestimated, and I encourage you to create your own pathway.

Nancy Taylor is a writer and education advocate with 15 years of experience in national and state education reform efforts. She currently serves as Executive Director of Citizen Schools-California, and was previously the Senior Policy Officer for KnowledgeWorks Foundation, consultant on new school start ups, and a Teach for America teacher. She is a graduate of Northern Virginia Community College, the University of Maryland-College Park, and Harvard University.