Martha and Irma are concerned about their children's application to magnet schools as they have been unable to read the application materials in English.  Angelica has been waiting weeks to schedule an IEP meeting with an interpreter to evaluate her son's progress in special education classes.

These are just some of the concerns of Latino parents in South Philadelphia who have organized themselves with the help of the community organizations JUNTOS/Casa de los Soles and SEAMAAC (Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Associations Coalition) to petition the School District to increase funding and professional development programs for bi-lingual, bi-cultural staff to serve as liaisons between immigrant families and the schools.

Eight schools in South Philadelphia, nearly one fourth of all regional schools, are now more than 10% Latino, after experiencing a substantial influx of immigrant children in the last five years. Equal access to educational services on language-based issues is mandated within the Philadelphia public school system by a ruling known as the YS stipulation that set a mandate for language services.

Parents and community members will ask School District deputies Tomas Hanna, Linda Chen, and Claudia Averette to pledge their support to community requests in a Public Action to be held at Annunciation Church, at the corner of 10th and Dickinson St. from 9:30 to 11:00 AM on Sunday, November 9. This action will lay the foundation for increased services to the Latino immigrant community, and the wider South Philadelphia immigrant community as a whole.