The Seventh Annual Latina/o Education Summit

Law & Policy: Conversations across the Disciplines

Friday, October 5, 2012

UCLA Faculty Center

Sponsored by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center,

the UCLA School of Law, and

Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund

The annual CSRC Latina/o Education Summit addresses topics not typically covered in academic discourse on the education of U.S. Latinos. This year’s conference, “Law and Policy: Conversations across the Disciplines,” will assess the impact of litigation and legislation on Latino education. Attorneys, legal scholars, and social scientists will discuss three areas where the law intersects with Latinos’ educational needs:

• Latino “resegregation,” including an assessment of recent battles around school financing and affirmative action.
• Providing for Latino children who are both English Language Learners (ELL) and students with disabilities, concerns that are frequently seen to be in competition.
• The interface between immigration law, policy, and education in light of new anti-immigrant laws enacted at the state level.

Presentations will explore significant cases, both past and present,that have directly affected Latinos’ access to public education, as well as that of other communities of color in the United States.

“Law and Policy: Conversations across the Disciplines” is the seventh annual Latina/o Education Summit. It is jointly sponsored by the UCLA School of Law, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund (MALDEF), and the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center (CSRC). The conference will be hosted by Rachel F. Moran, dean of the UCLA School of Law, Chon A. Noriega, director of the CSRC, and  Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel, MALDEF. Members of the conference planning committee are UCLA professors Laura E. Gómez, Stuart Biegel, and Robert Chao Romero, along with Carlos M. Haro, coordinator of the CSRC Latina/o Education Summit series.

Program

8:30 a.m.

Conference sign-in and continental breakfast

9:00–10:00 a.m.

Welcome and Introductions

Chon A. Noriega, Director, Chicano Studies Research Center and Professor of Film, Television, and Digital Media, UCLA

Rachel F. Moran, Dean and Michael J. Connell Professor of Law, UCLA School of Law

Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel, Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund

10:00–11:15 a.m.

First Panel: The Emerging Trend of Latino “Resegregation” in Secondary and Higher Education

Moderator

Patricia Gándara, Professor of Education, UCLA

Panelists

Robert Chao Romero, Professor of Chicana/Chicano Studies, UCLA

“Restrictive Covenants and the History of Educational Segregation”

David G. Hinojosa, Southwest Regional Counsel, MALDEF

 “Fisher v. Texas: A Current Supreme Court Challenge to the Use of Race as a Factor in University Admissions”

William S. Koski, Professor of Law, Stanford University

 “The Courtroom and the Classroom: The Robles-Wong School Finance Case and Educational Resource Litigation in California”

11:30–1:00 p.m.

 Lunch and Keynote Address (reservation required)

Keynote Speaker

Michael A. Olivas, William B. Bates Distinguished Chair of Law and Director, Institute of Higher Education Law and Governance, University of Houston

“Dreams Deferred: Deferred Action, Prosecutorial Discretion, and the Vexing Case(s) of DREAM Act Students” 

1:15–2:30 p.m.

Second Panel: Providing for the Needs of Latino Students Who Are English Language Learners and Also Students with Disabilities

Moderator

Stuart Biegel, Professor of Education and Law, UCLA

Panelists

Alfredo J. Artiles, Professor of Culture, Society, and Education, School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

“Educational Consequences of Inequalities Related to the Intersection of Disability, Race, and Language”

 Nancy Parachini, Director, Principal Leadership Institute, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, UCLA

 “The Challenges Language Minority Students with Special Needs Face in Today’s Most Underserved Public Schools”

 Celia M. Ruiz, Attorney-at-Law, Ruiz & Sperow, LLP

 “Navigating the Legal Standards That Apply to Educational Funding and Programs for Limited English Proficient Students and the Impact on Educational Programs and Services”

2:30–3:50 p.m.

Third Panel: Dreams and Nightmares: How Latinos Have Used Legal Tools to Fight Anti-Immigrant Discrimination in Education

Moderator

Laura E. Gómez, Professor of Law, Sociology, and Chicana and Chicano Studies, UCLA

Panelists

William Perez, Professor of Education, Claremont Graduate University

“Understanding the Hardships Faced by Undocumented High School and College Students”

Victor Viramontes, National Senior Counsel, MALDEF

“Challenges to the New Anti-Immigration Laws That Negatively Impact Latino School Children”

Neidi Y. Dominguez Zamorano and Carlos Alfonso Amador, United We Dream Network

“Seizing the Dream: The Legal, Organizing, and Political Strategies of the Undocumented Immigrant Youth Movement

3:50-4:05 p.m.

Special Guest Speaker: Gilbert Cedillo, California State Assemblymember, District 45  

“California Dreaming: How We Passed the DREAM Act and What Congress Could Learn from California”

4:10–4:45 p.m.

Concluding Session: Summary of Presentations, Discussion of Findings, and Policy Recommendations

Moderators

Chon A. Noriega, Director, Chicano Studies Research Center

Rachel F. Moran, Dean, UCLA Law School

Thomas A. Saenz, President and General Counsel, MALDEF

5:00 p.m.

Reception

Lunch Reservations

The 2012 CSRC Latina/o Education Summit is free and open to the public, but seating for lunch is limited. Lunch is $25.00 per person, paid in advance. Reservations must be made by September 28, 2012, at http://2012educationsummit.eventbrite.com.

 Directions to the UCLA Faculty Center may be found at http://facultycenter.ucla.edu/directions.htm. UCLA charges $11 for parking.

The Latina/o Education Summit Series

 The CSRC Latina/o Education Summit series explores issues in Latina/o education from kindergarten through graduate school, not only in the Los Angeles area but also statewide and nationally. Previous summits have focused on obstacles and crises in the areas of opportunity and access, undocumented students, and funding. The 2011 summit, “Moving Toward an Assets View of Language and Culture,” proposed a significantly different approach to the education of Latina/o students that views their language and culture as assets that schools can use to build success. Policy briefs, programs, and other materials from the six previous summits are available at: http://www.chicano.ucla.edu/research/education

For more information about the 2012 Latina/o Education Summit, please e-mail: csrcinfo@chicano.ucla.edu