Candidate for
Governing Board Member; Compton Unified School District

Lizette "Lucha" Arévalo

Lucha is a proud alumni of the Compton Unified School District, where she currently seeks to be elected as its newest Governing Board Member. Lucha's extensive academic achievements and community involvement make her a qualified candidate for a position that will allow her to continue to work as an advocate for Compton students, teachers, and parents.

Lucha caught the attention of the community toward the end of her high school career for being Centennial's first graduate to receive the Gates Millennium Scholarship. Lucha, however, was not always noted as a Compton success story. Throughout her early academic years, she struggled as an English Language Learner and because of that was denied access into GATE and Honors courses that were usually reserved for those perceived as "gifted and talented." Lucha believes every child enters the classroom with a gift, it is up to their learning environment to cultivate that gift into a skill that can be shared with the community. Lucha represents the often untold stories of students with Spanish speaking immigrant parents who struggle academically and who are often placed in remedial courses that prevent them from reaching their full potential. It was these types of unfortunate experiences with Compton public schools that made Lucha into an activist, mentor, researcher, teacher, and a doctoral student in service of her community.

As an undergraduate student, Lucha was an unusual overachiever. Lucha traveled from UC Santa Barbara back to Compton each week to lead an after-school program, T.R.U.T.H. (Teaching Racial Unity Through History), which was fully funded through a university grant she obtained. This program explored the art of critical pedagogy- teaching students how to read the world through creative expressive outlets. She was also a research assistant and led workshops for Padres Adelante, a Spanish speaking parent advocacy group that gave parents resources to better assist them in placing their children on pathways to college.

She was among the first cohort honored as a McNair Scholar that paved the way for her to later become a Leadership Alliance fellow at Columbia University. In New York, she studied how our nation's largest school district was vastly becoming privatized through corporate reforms in education. After she received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, Chicana/o Studies, and Black Studies, Lucha attended graduate school at our nation's most prestigious graduate of education program in Teachers College, Columbia University- where she earned a Master's of Arts degree in Sociology and Education with a concentration in Policy Studies.

Lucha is now entering her fourth year as a Graduate Student Instructor where on average she teaches over 400 students a year in introductory courses that explore race and ethnicity. As a University Instructor, she is a UAW Local 2865 union member with a history of standing up for worker's rights on her campus. In addition, Lucha's teaching experience in courses on the history of public education for Black and Latina/o youth make her a qualified candidate that brings forth research based expertise to contextualize contemporary issues in education.

After Lucha earned a second Master's of Arts degree in Ethnic Studies at UC Riverside, she became a Doctoral Candidate. Lucha's doctoral thesis situates Compton's educational system within debates on race, politics, and social justice. Lucha continues to bring forth Compton voices often marginalized to inform new pathways in education policy formation. In 2017, she will receive her doctoral degree from one of the most prestigious systems of higher education in the world.

At the young age of 27, Lucha has been able to accomplish more than most people her age. Lucha has dedicated her life and career to educational justice. As a Governing Board Member, Lucha will demand for better fiscal management. She will advocate for better allocation of resources and support services. She will work to change the culture within the district that alienates activist voices from students, parents, and members of the community. She will push for collaborative decision-making and transparency. She will advocate for diverse academic programs that can produce great results on standardized tests, yet are not centered on a narrowing of the curriculum. Lucha wants students to re-ignite that passion for learning we are all born with.

Compton can do much better, and Lucha brings forth creative ideas that are rooted in the local community, sustained by research, and supported by academics, activist, and concerned residents. We hope that you will consider supporting a qualified candidate and together we will strategize on how to improve Compton's educational system.