CCSESA, along with the National League of Cities, School Services of California, Barney and Barney and others, is please to sponsor the 2014 Alternative Accountability Policy Forum. This two-day summit in beautiful San Diego on November 14-15, 2014, provides attendees with answers and inspiration to tell the true story of their school, staff, and students.
Join educators and educational advocates from across the country to learn and collaborate on issues related to educational accountability.
Visit the event website here.
Keynote Speaker Thomas A. Saenz, President of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund:
Thomas A. Saenz, President of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund will be providing the keynote address for the 2014 Alternative Accountability Policy Forum. In both his experience as President of one of the Nation’s leading Civil Rights organizations and in his role as Vice President of the Los Angeles County Office of Education Board, Mr. Saenz advocates for English Language Learners, for Latinos, for low income students, and for all other at promise students.
Thomas A. Saenz is the President and General Counsel of MALDEF, where he leads the civil rights organization’s five offices in pursuing litigation, policy advocacy, and community education to promote the civil rights of Latinos living in the United States. Saenz spent four years on Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s executive team as Counsel to the Mayor where he helped to lead the legislative effort to change the governance of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD).
He also served as MALDEF’s lead counsel in the successful challenge to California’s anti-immigrant Proposition 187 and in two court challenges to Proposition 227, a California English-only education initiative. He has led numerous civil rights cases in the areas of immigrants’ rights, education, employment, and voting rights. For eight years, Saenz taught Civil Rights Litigation as an adjunct lecturer at the University of Southern California (USC) Law School.
He graduated summa cum laude from Yale University, and he received his law degree from Yale Law School. Saenz served as a law clerk to the Honorable Harry L. Hupp of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Saenz willingness to meet with the Alternative Accountability Policy Forum promises to bring important insights and enthusiasm to the event and to encourage attendees to continue their advocacy on behalf of at promise students and programs.
