The goal of the Quality Education as a Civil Right (QECR) movement is to create a national dialogue about the enormous inequities in educational opportunities for the children and youth of our nation and, if possible, to create a groundswell of public opinion in support of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing a high-quality school experience to every American child.

For more information, log onto the national website: www.qecr.org

At Chapman University, a group of nearly 100 people (high school students, parents, K-12 teachers, public school administrators, Chapman students, and faculty) have joined together to explore ways in which this goal can be accomplished in Orange County. Initial meetings (in March and April, 2005) focused upon examining what a quality education would look like in any given school and what stands in the way of developing a program that would deliver a quality education. The group is currently identifying ways to (a) broaden the dialogue about the inequities in local educational opportunities; and (b) build action models of fully inclusive quality education.

The group has identified skill-building in the areas of community and school organizing as an early need, so two Saturday workshops in Fall, 2005, are being planned to provide QECR participants with such training. A number of existing resources, such as the Orange County Human Relations Commission and the California Public Interest Research Group (CALPIRG) have been identified to assist us with this work. The first of these is scheduled for October 22, from 9:00-12:00 in Room 209, Argyros Forum (the student union building), Chapman University. The second (same time, same place) will be on December 3.