By Eduardo Martinez

I am happy to let you know that encouraged by the strong support of 6,500 Richmond voters in 2010 I have decided to run this November 2012 for the Richmond City Council. A resident of Richmond for 18 years, I retired from 18 years as a teacher dedicated to the educational needs of Richmond children and others.

Most of those years I taught in Richmond. I’m determined to continue contributing to the defense of public education, and in this process I have asked myself where and how can I be most effective in impacting the needs of our children and youth with progressive ideas? It takes a whole City to educate our children. It is often said that the schools make the reputation of a City.

As a Richmond City Councilmember, I see myself leading efforts, policies and mobilizations that respond to Richmond educational needs, which are not satisfied by the WCCUSD, needs which will continue for sometime after the lamentable intervention of the State of California in the district ends. The Richmond City Council has had a significant progressive composition in the recent years, which lead by the Mayor have been fantastic leaders, in thought and practice. A lot more would be achieved with a progressive majority in that council.

In every action and in every decision I will be working to build a City responding to the needs of our children and youth.

• Mobilizing the community to support parents and teachers to improve neighborhood schools
• Establishing Yearly Popular Education Conventions so students, parents and teachers can be involved in setting priorities
• Promoting a “Richmond Tutors” program recruiting tutors and connecting them to students.
• Supporting Adult Education and especially English as a Second Language Programs to assist immigrant families
• Organizing “Richmond Learns form Richmond” sharing the stories of our people
• Bringing “El Sistema” the now world famous music program developed in Venezuela to Richmond (www.elsistemausa.org)
• Mobilizing and working in statewide coalitions to demand that the State of California provide real aid to public education instead of dismantling and privatizing it
• Providing expanded learning opportunities to prepare Richmond’s children for the new jobs and new economy.
• Working to bring good healthy jobs to Richmond so our children will see the possibilities of a healthy productive future
• Demanding that industry meets guidelines that protect the air we and our children breathe
• Finding resources for more, safer, parks and recreational programs for our children.

Our children in Richmond have been short-changed by a system that funds wars and rewards speculation and Ponzi schemes instead of schools and teachers. The Richmond children have been abandoned to their fate, and it will take our entire City to educate these children if we are to have the future we want.

Together we can create a great City for our children, and for ourselves.