“It’s such a moral misgiving to have California with the most advanced economy in the world, unable to meet the highly qualified workforce needs that it has, when we are not educating our own children to a standard to fill those jobs,” says Madrid in the CharterNation Podcast.
SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Charter Schools Association launched Season 2 of its CharterNation Podcast today with Episode 1 featuring a special one-on-one interview between CCSA President & CEO Myrna Castrejón and Mike Madrid, a communications expert and nationally recognized analyst on Latino voting trends in California and the nation.
The interview with Madrid is part of an ongoing series called Changemakers where Castrejón engages in meaningful, in-depth conversations with influential charter public school leaders and allies – across the ideological and political spectrum – about high-priority issues in K-12 public education.
“Policymakers need to be looking at the growing Latino electorate – which is younger, poorer and more recently migrated – and figure out how to fulfill their aspirations in order to benefit the state … and the answer is the public school system, providing options and opportunities in the K-12 system,” said Madrid during his interview with Castrejón. “Without a broader array of options, [the K-12 system] doesn’t work … In a world and society where you can order 100 different pizzas, on a 100 different apps, made in a 100 different ways, yet we have one way of education children? Its nonsensical. It doesn’t make sense.”
Madrid was selected to headline Season 2 of the CharterNation Podcast because of his long and successful career spearheading legislative advocacy campaigns. In the interview, Madrid explains the power of the Latino voting block when it comes to charter school support, his thoughts on why Spanish-speaking parents are more open to charters, and the tactics charter advocates must use this year to secure legislatives wins.
The CharterNation Podcast is the only podcast dedicated to news, analysis, and stories from California charter school movement. Season 1 debuted last year and is quickly becoming a go-to source of information for charter school supporters and those interested in learning more about the charter school sector.
The Changemakers guest line-up this year will also include statewide elected officials and prominent charter school leaders in the Golden State.
In addition to Madrid’s interview, Episode 1 of Season 2 features an “in the field” story about Sacramento Valley Charter School, the only public school option in California offering language instruction in Punjabi. The episode also features an audio commentary from Debbie Veney, Senior Vice President of Communications and Marketing for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, who offers her perspective on the need to shift charter school branding tactics to increase favorability.
The CharterNation Podcast is a 25-30min highly-produced monthly program with episodes released on the second Thursday of every month. It’s the only podcast dedicated to news, analysis and stories from California’s charter public school movement. The program is hosted by Ana Tintocalis, a former K-12 education reporter and Senior Director of Media Relations and Editorial Content Strategy for CCSA. She brings her expertise in education policy and storytelling to increase the visibility and understanding of charter public schools in California which is often overlooked by the mainstream media.
The CharterNation Podcast available on all podcast platforms or you can tune-in by going to www.ccsa.org.
About the California Charter Schools Association
The vision of the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) is to build great public schools of joy and rigor that prepare all California students for success in college, career, community, and life. The mission of CCSA is to meet parent, educator, and community need for great public school options by supporting and advocating for high quality non-profit charter schools and sharing their success throughout California’s public schools. Learn more.
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