Dedication on Display at Roybal Learning Center

The emotions were pretty high this weekend at the dedication ceremony for the new Edward R. Roybal Learning Center near downtown. Congresswoman Lucille Roybal Allard gave an impassioned speech when she talked about how dedicated her father (and school namesake) was to creating educational opportunities for Latino students. As the former President of LAUSD whose plan was the one that finally led to the completion of the new school, seeing all those parents who implored me during my time on the board not to give up on their children and give them the quality school they deserved, it was quite an emotional ceremony for me too. When they told me that they had decided to name a quad in the school after me, I was truly humbled. I want to thank current LAUSD Board President Monica Garcia (my former chief of staff when I was board president), Councilman Ed Reyes and my former board members at the LAUSD who supported my plan in 2003. Most importantly though, I want to thank the parents who never let me forget what we were fighting for along: educational opportunity.