about the project

WestEd's Policy Center organizes conferences and symposia to keep diverse stakeholders, such as teacher and service employee unions, higher education officials, and state policymakers, informed about current education issues and trends and foster dialogue around high-leverage policy issues. Sessions are typically one- to two-day events that feature keynote addresses, research presentations, and panel discussions.

Recent Policy Center events include convenings of the California Mayors Education Roundtable (comprising mayors and their staff), as well as a 2006 Los Angeles conference involving Service Employees International Union (SEIU) leaders; Russlynn Ali, Executive Director of The Education Trust-West; Steve Barr, President and Chief Executive Officer of Green Dot Public Schools; and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Armed with information from the Los Angeles conference, the SEIU advocated that the Los Angeles Unified School District "place the highest-quality teachers in the classrooms that need them most; have high academic expectations for all students and thus teach a college-preparatory (A-G) curriculum to all students; and offer all schools uniform access to the resources necessary to provide a safe and healthy environment for rigorous teaching and learning."

The Policy Center is available to replicate these types of policymaker and stakeholder convenings on contract.