Meet 5C's Family Organizer

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Andrea Perez loved being a teacher. She was good at it, able to build strong relationships with her students and hold them accountable when necessary. She grew up in Oakland, and she shared a similar background to her students in Richmond and Oakland public schools. “I’m Latina, I’m first-gen, and a lot of students would come into my classroom and they hadn’t had a lot of teachers who looked like me or sounded like me,” she said.

As much as she loved teaching, she also felt like there was something missing. She would do her best to build strong relationships with families and provide them with resources when she could, but she also felt limited.

“My primary role was working with children, which I love,” Andrea said. “But as someone who grew up in the East Bay, I could see a lot of the need for support and outreach families could benefit from, especially the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) community. So what I like about family organizing is that now my primary focus can really be working with them directly.”

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Andrea's 8th grade students at Richmond Charter Academy in 2016.

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Andrea is the family organizer for 5C: Contra Costa County Charter Coalition, which is working to uplift family voice in education and civic decision-making processes, and unite the county charter community. Andrea has previously worked as an organizer in Oakland, and she joins 5C following a career teaching in charter schools in Richmond and Oakland, as well as traditional district schools in Oakland Unified and Alameda Unified.

From her first-hand experience, Andrea saw why 5C is needed right now for county families and students. School leaders and teachers are focused on educating students and have a limited capacity for sharing with families the political side of charter schools so important for preserving school choice, or how they can better advocate for their child.

“We need parent involvement, parents are literally the backbones of our schools,” Andrea said. “But a lot of times, families are not informed about what is happening until it is almost too late. So we want to prevent that, and through 5C we can help families better understand their role, what’s going on, and how they can partner with their schools.”

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Andrea with her students in Alameda in 2017.

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“We need parent involvement, parents are literally the backbones of our schools. But a lot of times, families are not informed about what is happening until it is almost too late. So we want to prevent that, and through 5C we can help families better understand their role, what’s going on, and how they can partner with their schools.” -Andrea Perez

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Andrea grew up attending district and charter public schools, attending some of the first charter schools in Oakland. She graduated from Oakland Unity High, a charter school where, when she got there, had to have multiple classes share the auditorium because they didn’t have enough classroom space. Andrea said she saw the lengths families were willing to go to provide a good education for their children in a safe space. She understood then why school choice was important to protect.    

“I know parents wouldn't be putting their kids in such small schools that are barely starting up if they didn't really believe in it and truly feel like these schools are offering something that other schools were not,” Andrea said.

Andrea’s experience as a student helped inspire her to teach, which then led her to organizing. She’s found that her experience as a teacher has helped her build connections with families and establish trust. She also can understand where they are coming from.

“From working inside a classroom, I have a lot of behind-the-scenes experience already, which helps me advocate better from a parent's perspective,” Andrea said. “I have that experience of what it takes to build relationships with parents. There’s a lot I learned as a teacher, and I think that helps me understand, and also think from, a lot of different perspectives.”

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