language. that is our strength. that is where we will prove to the rest of the country we can do it better right here in unite everyone. we can be dreamers all across the country, and not just complainers. we will pull up our own bootstraps and show people how we can do it, and i want to do that with all of you in san francisco and here in the state of california. they do to the association of latino and a streeters and superintendents for well, bridget for recognizing the importance of this topic, and i want to just signal, by recognizing alas by producing what we can do here, our certificate of honor. let me present this to the president, as well. this is to your convening here this october 12, 2011, to the association of latino administrators and

superintendent. congratulations. [applause] do not go yet, carlos. he will be busy with you all day tomorrow, and we are celebrating latino heritage month in city hall. he will not be able to join us over there. and i know how carlos so much deserves this, but i want to say it is fun of working with you. you are not only talented, your staff is dedicated, you have gotten the school district focused on things that we had to be focused on. the improvement in that performance is there. we're giving hope to all of our parents from all the things we're doing together. we're europe -- we are uniting the city in ways which we never imagined for so long. it is just another confirmation that we're having this great movement come together in california. i want to recognize you for your great leadership. i know you started this

organization, and you are still leading it. and i know it will have a lot of soul and great ideas coming out of it, so i want to give you a personal to ticket of honor to recognize your leadership. think you very much. -- thank you very much. [applause] >> one good deed deserves another, and we have this beautiful crystal we would like to give you for honoring us today and being here with us on this great summit. thank you very much, and keep up the great work, mayor. >> think you. -- thank you. [applause] >> wow, did that get your blood

running a little bit? give him a hand to the mayor as he walks out of the room. i have heard a lot of wellcome's in my career, but that has to be one of the best. this man is so committed. i have never met him in my life, but it makes the heart flutter a little bit. let's continue. ray rodriguez, i know you're in the room. would you please come up and say a few words? you are not ray rodriguez. he looks like rodriguez to me. >> hi, everyone.

ray was kind enough to send me up here to say thank you. by the way, how often you get to follow the superintendent and mayor of san francisco all at once? that is pretty rare and a pretty special evening. what i was most touched about, carlos, and mr. mayor if you're still anywhere in earshot, is the amazing partnership that is taking place here in the city of san francisco. i think it is through partnerships that all the great things have happened and have emerged. my name is john simon. we thank you for allowing us to be your partners. we have been here with you from the very beginning, and we are incredibly proud of your work in growth. your membership has swelled to a

tremendous numbers, and it will keep growing, because the work you do, and partnerships you form that helped to power this organization, and it would help power our organization, because it is through your work that we learn and are informed about what we do. i have been in education 20 years myself. it is incredibly important to me, because it is not my vocation, it is also my application. i have three children. we love it. we are incredibly proud of the program. and of all of our kids, of course. it is this time right now where we're seeing a transition from state to common standards, from print to digital, from delivering content, delivering learning in one setting to a hybrid model and to blend in

learning to online. it is this time of transition from a state categorical funding and rules and regulations to a much more flexible and dynamic world that presents incredible opportunities, but incredible challenges for us. it is through the partnership that we will figure out a way through this and create a better way. we are incredibly proud of you, alas. more than anything, i want to say thank you. thank you for your work and allowing us to partner with you, and keep up a great work. [applause] >> thank you, john. you are better looking than re anyway. just kidding. i am going to be in trouble here. i think he may have seen on the front cover of our program that the summit this year is in

collaboration with two great organizations. one is the california association of latino superintendents and administrators, and the council of chief state school officers. those organizations help to identify speakers. you will see on the program some of the breakout sessions are labeled. they are open to anyone. by pooling our resources, we were able to get some really great speakers, and we're proud of the association we have with those organizations. i would like to ask the current council president to please come to the podium and say a few words. [applause] >> process. -- gracias. welcome. it is my pleasure to welcome all of you.

the association has been in existence for a little over 20 years. what we focus on is eliminating the achievement gap, and we do that by developing fantastic latino leaders. we do that by the mentoring program. we have a summer institute every year, and we have conclave research to practice to look at ideas and affected practices that help us in our classrooms and at our schools to eliminate the achievement gap. i also want to thank each and everyone of you for being here. and i know you have a lot of passion, it is great to see you all here. but that is not enough. we need to have the confidence, the knowledge-base of what best practices really help our students to eliminate the achievement gap, and that is why we are here. i commend alas for putting this

together. it has been our pleasure to help collaborate for this summit. thank you, and i will see you here in the next few days. enjoy it, learn, and have a lot of fun. [applause] >> thank you very much. i would like to invite sharon from the program director for standard assessment and accountability to come up you will not call ray rodriguez on the are you? i've never met you before. i am glad you are you. >> thank you. i am very excited to be in a room where i am not the only latino. it is very nice. awesome. although we are growing, even in washington. i would like to think you on

behalf of the council of achieve school officers. i think it is very fitting that we are here today, because as we launch and have our states implementing the standard, which i am sure you all love, it is very important that we are listening, and also working in collaboration with your leadership and expertise and knowledge. you are really at the heart of how we're going to ensure that latinos are in the middle of the conversation this time, not on the side streets. we are not retrofitting this anymore. we are there. your leadership, mr. president, -- i am very proud to be here, because i think this is the reformed transformational change, and it will happen this time i am very encouraged by

the work we've done to prepare for this conference that this is an extremely important kind. i know that i am between you and a reception, so i will keep it brief. [speaking spanish] [applause] >> thank you for all your efforts in making this a successful collaboration and great conference. i can tell you that the numbers that have registered for this conference doubled from last year when we were in virginia, and by far the largest turnout of registered guests and participants in the history.

so thank you very much. [applause] it has really been a banner year, and one of the reasons for that is we have a remarkable board of directors. we of a great president, but there are folks and every organization that do all of the work. in addition to what you see behind the scenes stuff is the hard -- part of a team that we have with the self corporation that has spent hours, inventory burned the midnight oil -- and literally burned the midnight oil to put together this wonderful conference, so i would like to call them up one by one, and i have a little gift for them. the executive assistant for alas. [applause]

this is an energizer bunny. in >> thank you. thank you very much. when thendy wiler. [applause] keep your hand on your wallet. she is from the cell corp. and the liaison to alas and head of our sponsorship corp. and has earned the nickname of the energizer bunny. in there you go. [applause] finally, in our boston office, as you know we have the collaboration where our financials is done by the cell corp., which is headquartered in boston, but we also have another staff person. her name is hondya salim.

she is also an energizer bunny. watch her come up here. [applause] they are pour into sleep with their bunny's tonight. -- they are going to sleep with their bunny's tonight. it is time to turn it over to carlos, and he will finish the program we have for you today. and this is probably the first time you're going to hear this. we have a raffle on friday afternoon that you have to be present to win. it will get all kinds of tickets. the prizes are listed in your program, and they are not out. you might want to start thinking about that and see what you can do to get those tickets for the final raffled, because you have to be there to be able to win

it, and remember that marriott cheese will be there. -- mariachies will be there. hope to see you there. here is carlos, president of the latino association. >> i am going to do my welcoming remarks to our morning, so i will keep this brief, because i think it is exciting to good of all here, but tomorrow you were in for a very dynamic show. in this conference is -- belongs to all of us, and it will only be as good as we make it. as we know, we are latinos, so we will make it really good. we will have a lot of fun. we're producing, the ants. this is not your typical credo conference.

if you were expecting that, and i will repeat it tomorrow. if you are expecting that, you should probably go home. we take pride in the past that our culture is who we are, and we're going to reflect that in this conference. we will have a great time. in >> secretary held as a lease was not able to come today, but she sent as a video, and i just wanted to give you a little background about her, because she was confirmed as the secretary of labor on the there were 24, 2009. prior to her confirmation as secretary of labor, she represented the 32nd congressional district in california, the position she held from 2001-2009. in the congress are priorities including expanding action to affordable health care, protecting the environment and protecting -- improving the

lives of working families. a nationally recognized leader on the environment, she became the first woman to received the john f. kennedy profile in courage reward in 2000 for pioneering work on environmental justice issues. it was the first of its kind in the nation to become law. she was elected to public office in 1985 as a member of the college board of trustees. she served in the california state assembly from 1992-1994, and in 1994 made history by becoming the first latina collected in the california state senate. she also offered a record 17 at state laws aimed at combating domestic violence. she earned a master's degree of public administration at the university of southern california. a former federal employee, she

worked in the carter's white house office of hispanic affairs and was appointed later as a management analyst with office of management and budget in the civil-rights division. she was nominated by barack obama to serve as secretary of labor on january, 20, 2009. now we would like to present this personal video from her. >> good afternoon. thank you superintendent garcia for that introduction, and thank you to all the superintendents, administrators from our principles, and educators to come to san francisco for the eighth annual conference hosted by alas. never in american history has

your work been more important, because never in our history has this nation did more depend on the education we provide our latino youth. let me begin -- let me begin by congratulating you on getting the leadership academy off the ground. i wish you great success with this important endeavor, and let me also take this opportunity to commend you for your thoughtful leadership in the field of the english language learning -- learning. your scholarship, white papers are so crucial, because strong language skills are the foundation of a strong education. i am so proud of your commitment to giving latino youth of first- grade education that prepares them for college and successful careers. having latino role models and mentors is so important to the future of our young people. i am living proof. my mother immigrated to escape poverty. she stayed hope for many years to raise my brothers and sisters

and me. -- she stayed home for many years to raise my brothers and sisters and me. like many families, my parents made many sacrifices so my six siblings and i could live up to our potential and achieve what ever our talents would allow. though our family cannot afford much, we always have each other. i parents knew the only way for their children to have a better life was to get an education. i was a good student in high school, but it did not think about college. no one in my family ever had. one of my guidance counselors told me i was not college material. he told the i was best suited for office work and suggested i became -- become secretary. as he turned out, i -- he was half right. i stand before you today because i had a wonderful latino role model in high school.

his name was robert sanchez, and he was my high school career counselor. he put the college application in my hand and told me to the without, and so i did. i owe him so much. i want to challenge each of you in this room to be the mentor, the support system, because latino youth are counting on you to show you the way. one of our most urgent problems is our drop out crisis in america. every day in america's 7000 students dropped out of high school. that is one drop out any -- every 26 seconds. earning a ged can be critical to getting our young people back on track to continue their education and get a good job. however, just one in 10 latinos to drop out and earn a ged. we know the drop out crisis with -- risks america's competitiveness in our economic

future. we must give our youth a second chance to earn at work force skills. if we do not, we lose valuable contributors and risk falling further behind other countries. at the department of labor whenever most exciting programs is called youth build. it gives young people that second shot. and through youth build students are in their high school diploma or ged. they gained real work experience by building affordable housing in their local communities. they get an industry-recognize credentialed and construction to help them get jobs when they graduate. and this is so critical, because in the next eight years there will be 48 million job openings corridor recent study. nearly two and three will require some sort of post secondary indication. unfortunately, we are under prepared to beat this need.

by 2018 we need an additional 3 million americans to get a degree beyond their ged. it is crucial we equip latinos to help make up the difference. by 2018 we will represent 18 percent signed of the work force. that is a 20% growth rate in the labor sector. that makes this the fastest- growing group in this country. currently latinos are less likely to have a college degree than both white and african american counterparts. latino workers earned only 70 cents on the dollar compared to whites. we know we can turn these numbers around, but to do so we must harness the talent of our best and brightest. that is why president obama and i continue to fight in washington for passage of the dream act. we need to stop demonizing in is a young people for the actions of their parents by denying them a chance to earn an education or

serve in the military. they deserve a chance to obtain legal status by pursuing a higher education or serving in the military they love. here in the capital, the president and i are fighting for passage of the american jobs act. you have probably heard about this bill, but there is one section i would like to highlight that will make a big difference for low income latino youth. the american jobs act would invest $5 million in underserved communities. our goal is to make it easier for low income latino youth to get summer employment so they can acquire the skills needed for a long-term careers. the recovery act provided more than 367,000 summer jobs at -- summer jobs opportunities. but that opportunity is gone. the offer a lifelong employment skills. the president's pathway back to work fund will bring the program

back and provide support to offer summer jobs for low-income youth in 2012. these are just a few of my priorities in washington as we fight for the future of latinos in the future of our educational system. to all my friends at alas, i am so happy that you are on the front lines of this fight. together we will secure a better future for our young people, the latino community in this great country. think you for this opportunity to speak with all of you. please keep up the great work and have a wonderful conference. [applause] >> gracias, secretary. anyway, -- we just want to introduce someone, because they are important. they are sponsoring our event.

are you ready to go have a great conference? can i hear you? you are here. come on up. here she is. i could not see you back there. come on up. this person deserves a cheer. she is going to party with us. good thing i was paying attention. i was expecting carlos to do this at the reception, so i really got i was paying attention. - glad- glad i was paying attention. i am pleased to represent our company on hispanic education. i want to add my greetings to those who have heard from this evening.

we haven't been in ball for nearly five years -- we have been involved for nearly five years. each year our partnership has grown. we provide strong foundations for hundreds of school districts are broaround the country. for those of you who do not know how earmarkaeromakrrk, we work e educational systems to deliver mutually determined quality and excellence that greatly impacts each school district's achievement of goals for the students and communities. we take seriously our commitment to help create nutritious, state, and clean up learning environments. community engagement is an important part of what we bring to public/private partnerships.

it is part of why we believe strongly in supporting education associations like this that provide a wealth of resources for its membership. for instance, we partner to develop a white paper on confronting the growing epidemic of childhood obesity, which as we know effects children of color at alarming rates. they have done a good job of making the research available, and we invite you to visit our table during the reception in addition, there are other education organizations we support that you might be interested in. for instance, we have been a sponsor of the hispanic college fund, working closely with the dallas hispanic education fund that to explore college education and professional careers. our markets have active

participation with the hispanic association of college of universities. the note i was writing before carlos called me reminded me that used bill is an organization that the local team in providence, rhode island work with. we're trying to do our part to make sure we support hispanic youth throughout the country. in closing, i would like to introduce to you some of the folks who have joined me in the summit. i see them coming out. i hope you will get a chance to meet them if you have not are ready. but me introduce them to you. in if you could raise your hand. the director of business development. [applause] orlando works in texas, new mexico, and oklahoma. if you are from those areas, certainly try to spend some