house property certificate

male speaker: goodmorning everyone. happy filipino americanhistory month while they're doing the set up. (applause) so, we're happy and glad tobe here and to be here with you. we are part of parangaldance company and we're from san francisco. so, also in honor of thefilipino indigenous month happening right now inphilippines so we're here to

share our dances for youfrom (inaudible) and maguindanao one is -- thefirst one is (foreign language). you'll see here and then acourtship dance from the kalinga from the yakan andthen also from maguindanao and ta'u sug. so, these are -- thesedances we learned from various contributors throughthe research that we do when we go back home to thephilippines and then we come

back here and share with thecompany and of course with the public. thank you. (music playing) billy dec: good morning. that was my intro music. that's a hard act to follow. and then that? thank you so much.

good morning. how are you guys doing? you guys look incrediblycheery seeing people in line at 6:45 a.m. that's pretty awesome. we have to give a big shoutout for this amazing group, parangal. not only did they saythey're from california, but they really get asked toperform all over the world

and we are so lucky to havethem here and should just be thankful that they keepspreading the word about philippine culture, theindigenous people's traditions, stories, throughtheir amazing attire, music, and dance. so let's give them onemore round of applause. if we haven't met yet,my name is billy dec. let's make sure wemeet at the break. please say hi.

i was appointed by thepresident to the president's advisory commission onasian americans and pacific islanders. and i will be serving asyour emcee today and i am just really excited towelcome all to the white house for filipino americanhistory month, so thank you for being here. i have been serving thepresident in the white house initiative fortwo years now.

before me were -- are somany amazing people on the commission and i have togive a shout out to someone who really helped pave theway for all of us to be here. a whole group of amazingpeople that contributed -- but former commissionerhector vargas is with us today. i just wanted togive him a shout out. right in theback right there. and i -- and by theway, i am half filipino. five people askedme this morning.

yes, and i see youstaring at me weird. some don't know, but my momis from quezon city and we're now living in chicago. not together. i did move out of my mom'shouse at least two years ago. (laughter and applause) look at that. so, yeah, by the way -- homeof the world series chicago cubs.

wow. i'm totally off scriptright now and they hate it. by the way, since we'redoing this i get that a lot of people are from chicago-- where -- who's from the west coast? wow, all right. female speaker: san diego. billy dec: thank you. i was just going to ask thatone thing and you answered it.

how about the midwest? just so i know,the east coast? anyone from down south? female speaker: alaska. billy dec: alaska. pacific islands. very -- thankyou for coming. any first timersto the white house? okay, anyone who did notraise their hand you have to

ask them where thesecret gift shop is. it's like, awesome-- before you go. this is -- you know,i mentioned my mom. last year was our very firstfilipino american history month here atthe white house. it was super special. this is so new. we're all solucky to be here. and the gravity of it allreally hit me because i

brought my mom as my datelast year and, you know, she came here like some peoplein this room with no money, very early, first oneto leave the family. no help, no friends here,all to make a better life for her family. and, you know, to sit herelater -- on her birthday actually -- last year. those of you who were here,thank you for singing happy birthday to her.

it's just really great and ithink that represents all of our moms, our parents, oryou, or your grandparents, or someone in your lineagehad to have made incredible sacrifices to allow you --us -- the chance to be here. and then of courseyour hard work. so much of your hard workhas allowed you to be here. you're obviously reallydedicated and committed, passionate membersof the community. and, as much as we'reabout to enjoy amazing

performances like that andapl.de.ap from black eyed peas -- where is he at? he's -- we were -- wewere out last night. he'll be here, don't worry. (laughter) and, it's just -- to me it'sreally about getting into this moment, enjoying thismoment, supporting our fellow -- you know,brothers, sisters, community members.

but, trying to think whatreally grabs you and what you can connect withto take it forward. it's about the special seatand place in this room together and really aboutwhat we can do ignited going forward and taking it toreally make good on the original visions of allthose who made those sacrifices. just so everyone knows, asa commissioner, my fellow commissioners and past oneslike commissioner hector vargas -- we work as theeyes and ears of the

president trying to betterthe lives of all asian americans and pacificislanders working in the areas of civil rights,immigration, education, economic development. but this year as the only,by the way, filipino commissioner -- so, afterthis ends someone better replace me -- maybe two orthree so that we always have a filipino on the commissionand really all places of leadership and power.

but it's allowed me toreally focus on just the community. i've had the opportunity tosit face to face with the president here talkingabout immigration. not just about the sort ofunfair situation with the filipino community drawingon real situations that were separating my own familyfor over 20 years. and, he really took to itand understood so much behind it.

i was able to fly -- rightafter typhoon haiyan -- to tacloban and get on theground and assess the damage and help with u.s. -- usaid. speaking to -- unfortunately-- a lot of kids -- filipino americans in grade school-- middle school that are victims of bullying. asian americans -- pacificislanders have been victims of bullying at enormousrates above and beyond all

other racial groups. so, i was appointed to thewhite house bully prevention task force and really havebeen traveling quite a bit with that group trying tofight bullying and we have a new platform calledacttochange.org if you ever get a chance to check thatout and spread the news. talking to thousands offilipino american college students at a time. it's very energetic,very loud.

but really challenging themto break out of the norm and break barriers and fightfor leadership positions. talking about my own sort ofstruggles whether business school or law school orworking in tv or anywhere i don't see enoughfilipino americans. tough -- but that fightis something that i think everyone in the communityneeds to encourage others to do in the community becausethere's just not enough representation.

co-leading the u.s. business delegation to manila for apec with the president straight down to-- speaking of business -- holding business boot campswith some of the guys i see here for filipino americansand other groups. really, doing anythingand everything to put the filipino community's storyfirst -- front and center to some of the most important,impactful places in the world like righthere, today.

with two really wonderfulpeople -- again, there's so many people in the audienceand so many people up here that will be thanked -- buttwo i really have to say did so much to actuallymake today happen. and i get to introducethem right now. so, first is justin trinidadwho's an advisor at the white house initiative of asian american pacific islanders. i think many of you wereprobably in contact with him.

and alissa ko, the seniorassociate director of inter-governmental affairsand public engagement at the white house officeof public engagement. please, let's givethem a big hand. justin trinidad: (foreignlanguage) welcome everyone to the white house. thank you allfor being here. my name is justin trinidadand i'm an advisor at the white house initiative onasian americans and

i'm honored to welcome youall here at the white house celebration of filipinoamerican history month. it really is amazing to seesuch an incredible group of filipino american leadersin government, advocates, elected officials, andcommunity members who are carrying on very importantwork for filipino american and asian american pacificislander communities all in this one single room. in particular, i wanted tohonor our filipino american

appointees of theobama administration. if you're in the roomcould you please stand? great. thank you all for your greatwork and for your service. one housekeeping thingreally quickly -- if there's an open seat next to you wehave a few people standing. if you could raise yourhand and let them come in. i don't want anyone tohave to worry about that. yeah, feel free to sit.

all right, thank you. so, i know a number of youhave come from far and wide to be here with us todayand we're so grateful that you're able to attend andhope that you're able to learn more about our issuesand figure out ways to get engaged and further involvedin the policies and individuals that directlyimpact us as individuals and for our families. i wanted to take just alittle moment to share with

you what we're all abouthere at the initiative. so, quick, informal survey. before coming here today howmany of you have heard about the initiative? just quick raise a hand? the majority of you allso that's great to hear. so, for those of you hearingabout the initiative for the first time, our office wasreestablished by president obama in 2009 to improvethe quality of life and

opportunities for asianamericans and pacific islanders through increasedaccess to and participation in the federal programswhere we are underserved. to put it simply, we want tomake sure that no matter who you are, no matter where youcome from, and no matter what you look like, americaforever remains a place where you can makeit if you try. today's even is one of manycommunity engagement efforts we will have this year.

some of you may haveattended or followed us online when we celebratedthe lunar new year earlier this year. and may, of course, was amonth-long celebration of the initiative as wehighlighted many of our initiatives, accomplishmentsand the community as part of api heritage month. earlier this october webrought together 100 individuals from acrossthe country to showcase

innovative approaches inanalyzing, interpreting, and presenting data about ourcommunity as part of our elevate data challenge. and just a little over aweek ago, we are right here at the white housepartnering with the council of korean americansto engage in fruitful conversation with expertsin fields of mental health, gender gaps, security on thekorean peninsula and more. this year's filipinoamerican history month

celebration not onlyhighlights some of the most important issues and topicsthat our community faces today, but also isa testament of our accomplishments asfilipino americans. from our long and colorfulhistory as filipino american national historicalsociety's president judy patacsil will speak onshortly, to the many wins after long and hard foughtbattles for recognition such as for our veterans that hadbeen provided by the

obama administration. and you'll hear more aboutthose in our panels today. looking ahead, theinitiative has a few things on deck and i wanted tohighlight one of them that's really important. first, we're getting theword out to the community to let them know that they havethe opportunity to provide comments on a federalregister released by the white house office ofmanagement and budget.

and this federal registernotice is about the federal government's current 1997policy on maintaining, collecting, and presentingfederal data on race and ethnicity. and specifically the publichas the opportunity to comment on potentialrevisions to this current policy in several areasincluding the description of the intended use of minimumreporting categories. and we have a more expansivesummary on our website which

we encourage you all to goto on whitehouse.gov/aapi including faqs and atranscript of a call we had recently with stakeholdersin the community about this notice. and omb will release severalmore federal register notice about this in the upcomingmonths so please keep a look out for that. so, as you can see, we'vebeen really busy and there's still a lot ofwork left to do.

we'll keep everyone informedthrough proactive outreach and of course on socialmedia about our different initiatives. and speaking of socialmedia, you can see our tag there @whitehouseapi soplease engage with us today, in the future through ourdifferent social media networks including twitter,facebook, instagram. and our hashtag today is#fahm2016 and #whiapi. so, just a note for thoseof you who are in the white

house for the first time. please note that inaccordance with building event procedures if you havea pink badge -- mine's green -- but if you have a pinkone of these you must be escorted by a white houseintern at all times as you travel between roomsincluding leaving a room to go to the restroom. so, without further ado,please keep this in mind and thank you all and we hopeyou all enjoy the program.

alissa ko: goodmorning everybody. my name's alissa ko and iam the liaison here at the white house for asianamericans and so, on behalf of thepresident i welcome you guys to the white house, andhappy filipino american history month. i really wanted to do abunch of thank you's and welcome you to the whitehouse since it's going to be one of my last fewtimes her to do that.

but really want to thankwhite house commissioner billy dec, the whitehouse initiative on apis. they've always been suchgreat partners here at the white house and reallyoutreaching to our community. ben de guzman and a lot ofother filipino american leaders -- -- who really put this eventtogether, and i will be remiss if i don't give ashout out to my mayor from west sacramento --christopher cabaldon's here

today, too. and then also (inaudible)coming right down. so -- this is such an importantmonth to recognize what all of you in this room and thefilipino americans across the country have done andhave contributed in so many ways to our society. and i just wanted to -- iknow you all have a letter from the president as hecommemorated this month, but

really wanted to read apassage from his -- and use his words becausehe's so eloquent. "as we mark this specialmonth we celebrate the ways filipino americans have lenttheir unique voices and talents to changing ourcountry for the better. this immeasurablecontributions to our nation, we affirm that as americanswe will always be bound to each other in common purposeand by our shared hope for the future."

so really, thank youeverybody for joining us today at the white house. i will have our interns showyou the super secret gift shop that billy dec wastalking about after you leave. but really, take time to goout on the navy steps and see the west wing andreally enjoy yourself here. so, thank you once again. billy dec: all right. our next speaker isdr. judy patacsil.

she's a tenured professorand licensed psychotherapist who currently coordinatesmental health services at san diego miramar collegewhere she also teaches the filipino american experience-- where she also teaches the filipino americanexperience and has initiated filipino related curriculum. she's the lead author forthe arcadia published book "filipinos in san diego." dr. patacsil is currentpresident of the filipino

american nationalhistorical society. everyone, please let'sgive here a warm welcome. yes. judy patacsil: thanks. good morning everyone. on behalf of the filipinoamerican national historical society -- also know asfanhs -- it is with great honor that i welcome youto this filipino american history month celebrationat the white house.

i was blessed to be herelast year and i'm glad that this -- we are herehistorically again in the second year and we hope thatthis is a tradition from this time forward. we are so proud of thiscelebration at the white house and express ourgratitude to president obama, who was the firstpresident of the united states to acknowledge andrecognize filipino american fanhs was founded by fredand dorothy cordova,

affectionately known asauntie dorothy and uncle fred. i have a picture, but i'mnot sure if that's going to show. so, the late fred cordovapassed on a legacy of knowing the importance offilipino american history. our current and onlyexecutive director is auntie dorothy, and she has givenservice to fanhs for nearly 35 years as well as serviceto the filipino american community for over 50 years.

their vision and dreamsof fanhs has become a remarkable reality. fanhs has learned, gathered,and documented our filipino american history and hashelped instill a deep sense of pride of beingfilipino american. fanhs is the organizationthat first declared october as filipino americanhistory month. and the last few years, wehave been very assertive in making sure that we educatethe nation that it's

filipino american historymonth, not filipino american heritage. and we do -- we do so withemphasis because october -- specifically october 1587-- is when luzon indios or manila men traveled acrossthe spanish galleon trade and landed in what is nowmorro bay, california and what is the continentalunited states. that landing happenedon october 18, 1587. so, fanhs has actualy put amarker in morro bay, which

indicates that thiswas a historical site. we have put markersthroughout the united states most recently in delano,where we marked last year the 50th anniversary offilipino farm workers who actually startedthat strike. and so, we are dedicated tomake sure that we make this history known in our countryand make sure that we put markers across the nation. each year, fanhs hasestablished a significant

theme for filipinoamerican history month. this year, our theme thatwe establish was, "1946: a turning point." it marks the 70thanniversary of the 1946 laws and events that transformedthe lives of filipinos in the united states. dr. don mabalon is our fanhsscholar and she cites these significant historicalmarkers in 1946. there are four specificallybut i broke it down to five.

number one is the philippineindependence from the u.s. was granted on july 4, 1946. the last recruitment of andmajor migration of filipino sakadas to hawaiihappened in 1946. the rescission act of 1946barred veterans in the philippines from receivingtheir gi benefits. that's why it's so veryimportant that we get that congressional gold medalfor our filipino veterans. the luce-celler act grantedaccess to naturalization for

all filipinos had come tothe united states before 1930 -- before march 1934. with that access tonaturalization, we had also the benefits of citizenshipincluding being able to buy property. but, filipinos actuallygained access to citizenship and the right to vote. in this very critical andvery important election year we need to make sure that weexercise that right to vote

especially as we votein our next president. so, again, we are gratefulto president obama for acknowledging andrecognizing filipino american history month, andwe are here this year and we hope to be hereagain next year. thank you very much. billy dec: thank you,judy, for all your work in preserving and educatingothers about filipino american historyand its importance.

i'd like to now introduceour moderator for the first panel of the day. it's a discussion oneducational barriers and solutions for filipinoamericans and asian americans and pacificislanders as a whole. mayor cabaldon --did i say that right? i'm sorry -- (laughs) -- wasthe first mayor directly elected to west sacramentovoters in november 2004 and is currently serving inhis -- in his fourth term.

the mayor has worked ontransportation, land use, air quality, and climatechange, housing, economic development all which --regarded as a model for effectivecollaborative action. his local and regionalleadership on school facilities and localprograms along with his efforts to advance universalpreschool have established him as a visionary leaderfor all education. i'd like to invitechristopher and our

education paneliststo the stage. and let's give thema warm welcome. christopher cabaldon: we'rethrilled to be here -- particularly excited. my grandfatherwould be very happy. he used to tell me how hecame to the united states in order to provide a bettereducation for his son and then for his grandchildren. i was so proud.

at one point, i became thevice chancellor of the community college system -- billy dec: do you -- doyou need a microphone? can you guys hear okay? christopher cabaldon:oh, we -- that'll help. so, i -- in an earlier part-- in an earlier part of my career became vicechancellor of the community college system and i was soproud i went back home to vegan, a local store, totell my grandfather's family

all about it. and, to have them tellme about his vision for education. they said, "oh honey,no, he was troublemaker." he did never saidnothing about education. he had to leave. and so i said -- i went homeand i was inspired anyway. but, it was -- mygrandfather aside, for so many in our communityeducation is the animating

spirit of our lives, of ourdedication to our children and to our communities. it is one of the mostdefining aspirations of being filipino american. and so that's why we'releading today with this panel. we're joined by a coupleof very distinguished individuals who have beenhelping to push forward our access, our success ineducation in this country. but, i'd be remiss if ididn't -- if i didn't first

note that we're veryfortunate to be here at the white house under anadministration that has done so much to advance educationfor all americans including filipinos. whether it is work aroundassuring high quality preschool for every younginfant and toddler in this country -- filipinos included-- whether it's work on america's college promise. the president invited meto serve on the national

college promise board andwe're meeting down the street later today to assurethat every young person -- well, every person has theopportunity for debt free community college herein the united states. to work -- to reform nochild left behind with and replaced it with the everystudent succeeds act. and to ensure better accessto high quality data for our community and for others. and to -- with grants forthings like race to the top

to help assure higherquality education. there really has been noadministration that has been more committed to advancingeducational access for all and educational success forall than this one and so we're very, very, verypleased to be here today. so, i wanted to invite ourtwo panelists into the conversation. and we will have time forquestions, so write them down. so, i want to start with-- greg cendana with you.

maybe first you can giveus a little background. we're both from the sameplace originally in the sacramento area. greg lost his way like mygrandfather ended up here instead. but you head up the asianpacific american labor alliance. you're theexecutive director. one of the -- i would sayrising stars, but you're already the star politicallyreally across this country.

what do you think are theone or two key education issues facing filipinoamericans today? greg cendana: well, first,thank you for the question and (foreignlanguage) everyone. so, as mayor cabaldonmentioned, i serve as the executive director of theasian pacific american labor alliance. and we are a nationalnon-profit of asian american and pacificislander workers.

many who are members ofunions advancing worker, immigrant, and civil rights. and our organization throughthe hard work of some of you may know, monica tamarath,co-chairs the education committee here along withrita and who will have a chance to introduce herself. and then i also want toshare that i usually -- formally serve as thepresident of the united states student association-- an organization that

represented millions ofstudents across the country. i was the first openly gayfilipino and only the second filipino in history to servein that role so i'm very excited to be here today. so, i think one of thebiggest issues which i know we'll kind of be able todelve deeper in is the lack of data and disaggregateddata and -- for education and really in all sectors. but there's two other issuesthat i want to just make

sure are raised and arepart of the conversation. first, is the lack ofresources for mental health and depression and othermental health issues, which i continue to see as afactor in putting folks in the school to prison todeportation pipeline. so i wanted to just raisethat as we're thinking about this conversation and aboutthe lack of data that those are the types of issuesthat our students and our communities are actuallyfacing each day.

christopher cabaldon: youknow, when we say education we're often thinking aboutyoung people as well, but also folks reentering theworkforce and society from incarceration sometimes fora very long period of time. education also is a criticaltool in terms of making that transition possible. so -- rita -- rita pinahrens from the southeast asian resource center. you have taken a verysignificant role this last

year in terms of working onevery student succeeds act. but tell us a little bitabout your organization and your journey to here, andwhat you think are the key issues facing ourcommunity today. rita pin ahrens: so,as was said, i'm rita. i work with the southeastasia resource action center and we represent theinterests of southeast asian americans, which are thelargest resettled refugee population withinthe united states.

and so, the issues thatwe cover not just include education but alsohealth and immigration. and so we represent therights of refugees, new immigrants. so a lot of the policiesthat we push forward actually apply to incomingasian americans and pacific islanders as well as otherimmigrants to the u.s. in terms of a little bitabout myself just to give you a little context -- icame to the country when i

was almost 5 years old. so, for me this is a verypersonal thing -- education. i understand how englishlanguage learners feel in this country based onmy experiences with not receiving services. and so i push veryhard in my role. so, in terms of the questionwhat are the two most important issues ineducation for our community today.

i would agree with gregoryand say definitely the lack of data. not just in the schools. i mean, let's think aboutit just from the filipino american communityperspective. you're the third largestasian american group within the united states afterchinese americans and south asians. and yet, when we look atdisaggregated data for asian

americans and pacificislanders in various, you know, departments -- idon't always see filipino americans there. and that's disturbing to me. so, you know, that's -- ithink -- one thing that we definitely have to correctacross all sectors not just education. the other thing that i wantto note is, you know, we need to really address theissue of language access.

so, we know that, you know,i think we have -- over half a million filipino americansare limited english proficient. and yet, our schools don'tdo enough, i think, to really engage those folks inreally having a meaningful way to participate insupporting their children's education. and so i think that languageaccess definitely is one of those things -- areas --that we have to work on. christopher cabaldon: so,when we have the veteran

panel later on we'll havesome powerful stories and when we bring out educationpanel together we always talk about the excitingthing of data. and you both mentioned this. so maybe -- let's dive alittle bit deeper into that one. so, the u.s. department of educationreleased a new d2 initiative on data disaggregation. why does this -- whydoes this matter?

and what do we do to makesure that this movement that's gotten -- that youboth have been so critical in getting started actuallygets to the -- to the finish line? greg cendana: yeah, soi would say that the importance of disaggregateddata is for a couple of things. one, it challengesthe notion that we're monolithic. so we're able to kind ofsee the differences and the

diversity of experienceswithin the community. and also, it allows usto actually be stronger advocates when we're talking-- when we're talking to policy makers. i think sometimes when we'relumped into the larger api community we get --we become invisible. so it's important for usto utilize this data, to leverage this data, and thento share our stories that match -- those experiencesthat match the data sets

as well. rita pin ahrens: and interms of what this means at the school level -- withoutthe data we cannot pinpoint what the issues arewithin our community. schools receive assistancefrom the federal government to address closingachievement gaps. so if we cannot prove thatthere are achievement gaps in certain areas then, youknow, those resources are not going to beallocated to the schools.

so this is really an issueabout making sure that we get the targeted resourcesthat we need to really close achievement gaps. that's why the data isso important to have, christopher cabaldon: soyou mentioned getting the resources to schools. and one of the fundamentalideas behind every student succeeds act is pushingdown accountability and decision-making and resourceallocation to the state but

in hopes it willreach the schools. and rita, you've been --you've been named one of the -- you know, just twodozen nationwide official negotiators under rulemaking for the every student succeeds act partly becauseof your leadership in this work. what is that -- whatis that all about? why does it -- why should wecare about negotiated rule making for essa and what do-- for the every student succeeds act -- and whatshould filipinos be doing in

our communities to assurethat that promise of local accountability, localcontrol, local resources actually translates intoincreased educational opportunity and services? rita pin ahrens: well, so ithink this is -- this is a really important definingmoment for us because the every student succeeds act,which was passed in december of last year, really openedthe doors for more public stakeholder engagementin the schools.

it's actually mandated inthe law that states and districts have to consultwith parents and teachers and community members andcivil rights organizations to not only determine whatthe state plan looks like for exactly what ishappening in your schools at the local level. so, we're talking aboutthe opportunity for you to really say, "if my school isidentified as failing under the new law," which we mayhave for 10-15 years -- so

think about that. before the nextreauthorization we are going to have to live with thislaw for the next decade. so, if you have childrenright now they're going to be impacted by the decisionsthat are being made this year and next year. because during the next yearand a half or so the states are going to askstakeholders at the local level what do you want tohappen in your school --

right -- whenit's identified? you get to determine that. so, across the country folksare, you know, the states are releasingtheir draft plans. they haven't come out withtheir district plans yet. they're putting themout for public comment. they're asking, "whatdo you want us to do? do you want more afterschool tutoring? do you want more resourcesin terms of like,

specialists at theclassroom level?" so, you know, the answersare going to be supplied by you. and so this is ahuge moment for us. and i think we all need toget engaged to make sure that we know when is thestate -- when is your state going to releasethe draft plan? how much time do youhave to comment on it? and then make sure thatyou get involved in that process.

christopher cabaldon:yeah, so i chair the jobs, education, and workforcecommittee for the u.s. conference of mayors andwe're very interested in this topic because it'sabout exactly what you said, rita, in terms of whatare the -- what are the consequences if a schoolis identified as failing? but, even if youroll it back a ways. what do we mean by failing? what do we meanby every student?

and what do wemean by succeeding? right? all the words thathave been used. what does it actually mean? because we got rid ofno child left behind. it's no longer just basedon a couple of test scores whether you'refailing or not. but now we have the chanceto define, okay, what is not failing or what issucceeding actually mean?

does that include measuresof cultural competency? should your state beincluding things like suspensions and expulsionsor referrals to the criminal justice system in partof its rates -- defining whether or not it'ssucceeding to failing? those are key questions inour community in places, you know, like in californiawhere we're having a big debate now about how toimplement the laws for incorporating filipinoamerican history --

particularly farm workerorganizing, filipino contribution to end worldwar ii -- in our curriculum. we're reshaping from afilipino perspective what does a successful schoolsystem look like? and in every state, becauseof essa, that is becoming more and more possible. but, as you say, only if wedo something about it and there -- greg you are oneof the nation's preeminent organizers.

what does this mean then toreally affect the kind of change that ritais talking about? what do we have to do asfilipino communities? greg cendana: well, at firsti wanted to kind of drill down on a point that ritamentioned earlier about how overall the asian americanpacific islander community is the fastestgrowing community. but even in 11 statesfilipinos are the largest asian american groupincluding california and

nevada and so our role notonly as filipino americans but this -- within a broaderframework as apis and people of color is critical. in not only kind ofeducating our folks and holding our electedofficials accountable but connecting the dots of ourhistory of colonization and our history and struggle aspeople of color within our communities and how thatactually connects more broadly. and then to your -- to yourpoint too -- what i was

thinking -- another thingthat i also thought about is the need for culturallyrelevant education. i think a challenge is thatlike you said, we're still now trying to fight toput the history of the (inaudible) in our textbookswhich we know is not only a history that's integral tous as filipino and filipino americans, but to us as acountry and a foundation of the labor movement thatallowed us to actually come together and to actuallydefine what it means to have

collective power. and so, in the spirit of ourhistory and the spirit of our resiliency as acommunity it's not only our responsibility to educateour elected officials and make sure our voice is heardbut it's also an -- it's also imperative. and also, i call our call toaction to not only make sure that our communities havethe resources now but our children and generations tocome will have the resources

they need to not onlysurvive, but to actually thrive in our schools, inour workplaces, in our communities. christopher cabaldon: oh,you a troublemaker too. that's good. greg cendana:(foreign language) christophercabaldon: (laughs). so, part of he curriculumwork that's been happening k-12 has been because ofhigher education, right?

it's the -- it's thework that judy was just describing the fanhs hasbeen doing, that dawn has been doing. that so many in this roomhave been trailblazing often anchored in a philippinestudies program in miramar or city collegein san francisco. many of which areunder a threat. those -- many of thoseprograms that provide a home for filipino americanresearchers depend on

filipino american studentenrollment in order to survive. and we depend as a communityon filipino american students having access andthen getting through the first year and then all theway to getting a degree or a credential or a certificatein order for our community to keep succeeding. what do you see, greg -- imean, you've been both with the u.s. student association at uclaand now in your role at apala. what are the -- what are thekey challenges of us in the

higher education realm? greg cendana: yes, so tobuild off what i was saying earlier i think some of thebiggest challenges is the lack of diversity andrepresentation of our community, especially inpostsecondary education. and, i think that'simportant to mention because it's -- there's a differencewhen as a student you can actually relate to aprofessor who actually comes from your community, has asense of your history and

your heritage and yourculture and the experience in the classroom isextremely different. another thing i want tomention is that when i was with the u.s. student association onething that we really fought for was actually thedesignation of aanapisi -- asian american and nativeamerican pacific islander serving institutions. what many people don't knowwas that was actually a

struggle to even getdesignated in the first place. we actually had to lobbymembers of congress including those who aremembers of the tri caucus -- the congressional blackcaucus, the congressional hispanic caucus, and thecongressional asian pacific american caucus to actuallysay, "this is a resource that is necessary. this is something that youactually have to include as part of the broader minority

serving institution designation." and once we actually foughtto get that in there we actually had to fight toactually get funding so that those institutions couldactually get the resources they need to serve thestudents -- many who were low income, many who wereimmigrant, many who were refugee. and so i think that is alsoa part of the story that needs to be told as well.

and the other piece of thatis also making sure that we're actually -- if we'reseeing this as an issue of diversity and representationin higher education especially in post secondary-- how are we creating a pipeline of teachersand educators? that starts with k-12 so wecan actually see that in every, single part ofthe education system. christopher cabaldon: how doyou think we're doing with -- just on studentenrollment now?

i know when i was atberkeley we had -- for our cultural night we couldn'tdo the (foreign language) because we didn't haveenough -- we didn't have enough students for that. so, we had to pick ourdances based on how many students that there were. and we've made a lotof progress in some institutions andin some states. and in some states it feelslike we've been going backwards.

where do you think we areand what can we do about it? greg cendana: i think thatwe're in a truly, truly defining political momentand no matter kind of -- i think we see the trends thatare numbers are growing but until we actually can seean education that actually values our history, thatincludes the gallogue and language that we are -- thatallow other folks to kind of understand our context andexperience here there is still a lot morework to be done.

at the same time, i alsoappreciate and recognize the -- how far we've come. and even the fact that we'rehere in the white house today as part of a filipinoamerican history month coming together with folksfrom all across the country i think shares a particularstory about how far we've come. but i think we need tocontinue to push and we need to continue to see more ofpeople like us not only coming to these briefings,but actually in the white

house in all levels ofgovernment as appointees, as elected officials andthroughout all parts of the -- of the process. christopher cabaldon: nowrita, you -- you're seeing us as a ally, as anadjacent community. so maybe you have someunique insights about our work in education. but, especially in highereducation, what do you think the main opportunities outthere for the filipino

community might be toaccelerate our success and our persistence inhigher education? rita pin ahrens: i think,you know, i want to add on to what gregory said. i think we need to reallybuild that network of mentors for the youth,especially for going into college. i think, you know, with thefilipino american community there's beentremendous growth.

almost half filipinoamericans have a college degree or graduate degree,which is tremendous. that's much higher thanactually the average american rate. and so i think there's anopportunity there because, you know, in -- we have alot of students still within the asian american pacificislander community who are struggling with thatfirst year of college. not just navigating,you know, college life.

but also, the academicrigor of college. and i want to throw our onedata point for you because i'm a data geek. and that is when you look atthe remediation rates for first year college studentsasian americans and black americans are the two groupsthat have the highest remediation rate. and that to me is stunning. and so, given that we haveso many folks who are

successfully pursuing acollege education graduating with a degree it's on us tomake sure that those who want to further theireducation, you know, have a -- have a much easier timethan we did, personally. and so, i challenge everyonehere, you know, how do you make sure that the future isbright for those who want to pursue it? become a mentor. if you don't see amentorship program either,

you know, createone, join one. do what you can to helpthese young, new students who are really strugglingto, you know, figure out how do i get -- how do iget a student loan? what do i do in terms ofdeciding what my career should be? you know, there's all sortsof different ways that we can contribute withour own knowledge. christopher cabaldon: great.

or if you go throughamerica's college promise maybe you won't need to geta student loan in order to just get through your basic-- your basic degree. i think we also, in ourcommunity have some particular issues aroundfirst year persistence. the adjustment for many --for many young filipinos out of high school, out of theirneighborhoods to the college experience. but also to the challengesabout your -- what your

identity is that you'veconstructed in whatever neighborhood you're from. you know, whether filipinoneighborhood, latino neighborhood, africanamerican -- and then you arrive at college andeverything is different. and you are different too. it's a real challenge for --in addition to financial aid and finding the courses andgetting the tutoring just defining all at once formany, many filipino

young people. who am i? and how do i relate toall these other folks? and am i still the smartest-- am i still the smartest kid now that i'm here atmiramar college in san diego? i was in high school. all these kind of challengesthat we have to -- and mentorship becomes reallycritical to help our young people to succeed.

but that's ifthey get there. and a lot of young peopledon't make it that far because of the experiencethat they're having in high school and bullyingin particular. and we heard billy talkabout national bullying prevention month and you'vebeen a huge advocate on this issue and act to change. #acttochange as well. so what do you -- what arethe ways that we should be

engaging as a community inthe work to prevent and fight bullying? greg cendana: absolutely. well, bullying is an issuethat hits very closely to home. growing up i was bulliedthroughout elementary and high school. and so when i hear thisquestion i immediately think about those experiences andthe sheer importance if people see somethingto say something.

and i think this is inparticular especially for folks who are most closestto us even if they're family members or even our friends. and i think as simple as itsounds i think the notion or the idea of being able tospeak your truth but also be able to hold our familyaccountable and to bring them in to help themunderstand what they're saying, how they're sayingis hurtful and how it actually could impactsomeone's life for

generations to comeis really important. so, i think that is oneparticular thing that is really helpful to do. i think the other thing todo is to really make sure that we're not leavingthings out of context. i think right now as we'regoing into an election it is no secret -- it is no secretthe amount of racist, sexist, islamaphobic,xenophobic rhetoric that is going on throughoutmainstream and all

throughout this country. and what we're hearingactually on the ground from educators and teachers andthe american federation of teachers and the nationaleducation association is that bullying hasgone up exponentially. and so, the words that wehear may be words to some but it actually meansviolence and it actually means people's lives beingthreatened at schools and in the streets and intheir communities.

and so, it's important forus to really understand the current political momentthat we're in and the climate that's beingfacilitated by the types of things that candidates atall levels of government are saying. and so i think just to pindown that as we -- it's important for us to reallyidentify and really push and hold our people accountablewhen they say something or doing bullying.

christophercabaldon: all right. well, we got a coupleminutes for questions and we've already gotone, so why -- sir? male speaker: thankyou to a great panel. i wonder if you could giveadvice about how best to advocate for education at atime of growing inequality? and people questioning aboutwhether there's a pay off it seems to me thatunfortunately it's so popular that it's difficultto get to visit the new

museum on african americanhistory and culture. and i was fortunateenough to go there. and i thought one of thebrilliant things that the museum was able to do washighlight the history of african americans in theiradvocacy for both education and structuralsocial change. so, i know that greg hasbeen involved with the labor movement. how do these things fit withour push to increase the

minimum wage? how do we reduce theinequality in our country and don't make educationthe panacea for these major problems? christopher cabaldon:that's a great question. it may mean we don't get anymore questions after that. so, greg, it isactually really true. so, in the -- in the highered world there's been some research that shows a dollarspent on higher ed in this

country -- at least on theuniversity systems -- is actually -- contributes moreto inequality than fixing it because of the structure ofadmissions and persistence in curriculum andeverything else. so, what about the rest ofthe -- what about these other -- the rest of theseissues that we sometimes when, you know, whatever. some folks shout "benghazi,"if there's some problem. and other folks say,"education, preschool,

whatever, i'llsolve it later." what do you think aboutthe, you know, kind of very provocative questionthat we've got? greg cendana: well, i think--- well, first, tony, thank you for your question. tony was one of thefirst municipal staff at (inaudible). i just want to giveyou a shout out. but i think the questionis for me is how are we

actually looking atour experiences more holistically? because i think people sayeducation but what happens -- what about work? the workforceand employment? what about our healthand our mental health? and so i think it'simportant to not necessarily see these things in silos. and so one thing that i'vebeen encouraging is how are

we actually talking aboutthe intersections of these issues and our identities? and the more that i seecross racial work happening, the more that i see usactually having folks in education and in tech and inlabor and in health actually in the same room talkingabout what our shared agenda is. and actually, what ourshared vision is for our communities -- there's alot more creativity and willingness to be more opento kind of these talking

points or these lineitems if you will. and i think it's -- aspeople we're complex and so we can't boil it downto these simple things. we have to remember that,you know, after i spend the day at school i go homebut how do i get home? is it on the bus? or is it on my bike? and do i actually have ameal when i get there? all those factors play intoour experiences in this

country and so theyshouldn't be looked separately. so, the more that we breakdown the silos and the more that we talk aboutintersections i think the better we will be in termsof addressing the needs of our community. rita pin ahrens: that'sreally -- it's always hard to follow greg, but i wantto throw out a number at you because i think in numbers. and that is when we look atthe workforce numbers and

the unemployment rates --if you have -- if you don't have a high school diploma30 percent of those who don't have a high schooldiploma are unemployed. the likelihood that youwill be employed or the likelihood that you'll beunemployed if you have a college degree is 4 percent. all right? so, i think the answerfor why we advocate for education is actuallya very simple one.

it's an economic imperative. not only for those who don'thave higher education but also for the country interms of the support services that we are goingto provide for all of those folks who are unemployed. so it's very, very simple, ithink in my mind for why we have to say we have toprioritize education for the country. christopher cabaldon: yeah,one of the -- one of the key

initiatives of thisadministration has been the promise zone initiativewhich attempts at least to bring together housing,education, work, social services and health --mental health -- all together in aparticular place. we'd love to have seen andmaybe we'll still have another chance in the futurea filipino community focused promise zone applicationto be really powerful. i know my experience inmy own -- just in my own

community has beenyou got to go all in. so you're either doingthis or you're not. and it is true that, youknow, when we first started doing our work on preschoolpeople said that, well, okay, we'll do preschool forall and then we're done. because that will takecare of everything. that's not good -- that'snot good enough and there -- we got to dothe whole thing. so we're -- now we'reguaranteeing preschool

for everyone. we're going to guarantee apaid internship in a career sector for everyhigh school student. we're going to guaranteefree community college for every student and ban thebox and a set of other initiatives together. but only together do youhave any hope of being able to break that cycle and useeducation to its fullest potential to really succeed.

so, i want to thank ourgreat panelists, greg and rita for their -- for theirwork and contribution and for their inspiration.