Website: http://www.olenm.org/
Phone: (505) 796-6544
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Working Parents Association Early Education Lobby Day at the Capitol February 2, 2012: (Children, Parents, Owners, and Educators drive to Santa Fe to lobby for
Early Education and talk about how their experiences went) Since 2010, New Mexico has cut parents' eligibility for subsidized child care and early education from 200% of poverty to 100%. Now, only parents making minimum wage can qualify for a subsidy, and thousands of parents are unable to afford safe child care and quality early education. Some parents have given up work. Others are making do with inferior child care that neither educates their children nor provides them with the safe environment that a licensed provider does. Our early educators are downsizing and struggling to provide a quality education, as well. In the past year, the state cut its reimbursement rate to providers by 4%. Early education teachers are getting laid off or having hours cut, and some centers are closing, leaving parents fewer centers to choose from and the quality of their young children's education deteriorating. Over 3,500 parents have joined OLÉ 's Working Parents Association (WPA) to revolutionize how the State of New Mexico funds and administers its early education programs. Our mission is to make quality early education affordable and accessible to all parents, to provide early education professionals with the wages and benefits they need to make a lifelong career in early ed, and to win a seat at the table for parents and providers, so they can help shape the future of early education in New Mexico. What have we accomplished? As a member of Invest in Kids Now! we came within a single vote of passing a constitutional amendment that would use New Mexico's $14 billion permanent land trust fund to put $150 million into early education programs every year. We will take another stab at putting this proposal on the ballot for voter approval in January, 2012. We stopped the cuts to early education from being much, much worse, convincing Governor Richardson not to cut 7,000 children from child care subsidies in the fall of 2010 and getting him to use federal stimulus funds to fill a hole in the child care budget, so he did not have to cut the state's reimbursement rate to early educators by 10%. We have developed an innovative partnership with Early Educators United, a statewide organization of 1,800 child development center teachers, directors, and owners who share the WPA's mission of making quality early education available and affordable for every New Mexican and providing early educators with the kind of wages, benefits, professional development and respect that most K-12 teachers have earned. We have built a base of parents almost anywhere in New Mexico that has child care centers, including groups in Albuquerque, Roswell, Taos, Deming, Las Cruces, Clovis, Portales, Mescalero, Hobbs, Lovington, Carlsbad, Artesia, Silver City, Hatch, Santa Fe, Espanola, and Farmington. How can you help us accomplish more? Members help by: + Engaging other parents, family members and community members to fight for quality childcare + Participating in meetings and events + Asking your childcare center to support our fight + Hosting a planning meeting for parents + Attending meetings with your legislator + Talking to the press about issues around childcare + Advocating for your childcare center To become a member and receive more information contact OLÉ! (505)796-6544 parents@olenm.org http://www.olenm.org/ | Citizenship & English as a Second Language(ESL) Clases de la Ciudadanía y Íngles OLÉ's Citizenship Program helps legal residents through every step of the naturalization process, filling out applications, teaching citizenship classes, and helping new citizens register to vote and become active new members of our democracy. Citizenship is a path to individual, family, and community strength. OLÉ's Citizenship Program helps legal residents through every step of the naturalization process, filling out applications, teaching citizenship classes, and helping new citizens register to vote and become active new members of our democracy. Citizenship is a path to individual, family, and community strength. In comparison with other immigrants who have not naturalized, new citizens reach many new heights of success. On average, naturlized citizens attain higher education, make more money for their families, and engage in their communities at greater levels. OLÉ offers an extensive citizenship program that helps legal residents through every step of the process. We fill out the N-400 naturlization application, offer four weekly citizenship classes to prepare people for their interview and exam, and advocate on behalf of their cases if there is an unnecessary hold-up at Immigration (USCIS). The naturlization rate of immigrants who complete our program is over 95%! And once our members become citizens, we help them register to vote and become active new participants in our democracy. The class schedule for citizenship & ESL classes are as follows: Tuesday/Martes: 6:00-7:30, ESL Tuesday & Thursday/Martes Y Jueves: 11:30-12:30, Citizenship Tuesday: 6:00-7:30, ESL Thursday/Jueves: 5:30-7:00, ESL Wednesday & Thursday/Miercoles Y Jueves: 6:00-7:30, Citizenship Saturday/Sabáda: 5:30-7:00, ESL For more information, please contact OLÉ! (505)796-6544 |