USD President's Report and Honor Roll of Donors 1996

A few days before the March 7 schoo l board meeting, Kalemkiarian rev iewed Alexander's research document and suggested some changes that Alexander says were crucial. Alexander made the changes and advance copies were sent to the board. SPEAKING OUT At the packed meeting, a number of representatives from both sides of the issue made three-minute presentations. After Alexander presented a brief report on her findings, her infor- mation was cha llenged and she successfully defended her work, bringing out several critical points in her rebuttal. "That was where the training at USD to be an advocate came into play," Alexander says. "I was there as a representa- tive for the parents, for the students, for the issue. For me to sit down because maybe I didn't want to look aggressive or confrontational or because I was nervous wou ld have been an abdication of my role as an advocate." In the end, Alexander's efforts prevailed. In part due to her report, the board voted to continue with its class size reduction program. "Anne-Marie had a unique clinical experi ence," Kalemkiarian says, "in that she actually was part of a public dec ision on a matter of extreme importance - smaller class size for better learning. She not only learned how the law was made and how the policy was implemented, but she was able to be a part of the process." The importance of Alexander's work was apparent after the meeting when a number of parents shook her hand and thanked her for speaking out for the children. "That's the whole point of the Child Advocacy Clinic," Alexander says. "That's what we're trained to do; to represent those who do not have a voice to speak. "

PROJECT H OPE In her final semester at USD's School of Law, Anne-Marie Alexander was looking for a meaningful project to take on as part of her clinical work. The former grade school teacher wanted to combine her interest in advocacy with issues that affect children, and she presented her quandary to Sharon Kalemkiarian, director of the law school's Child Advocacy C linic. Kalemkiarian had the answer. To improve student achievement, the San Diego Unified School District initiated in 1994 an innovative policy to reduce class size in the first and second grades from 32 students to 25. While this reduc- tion was met with accolades from teachers and parents, some controversy pers isted from the school board 's decision to realo- cate resources to fund the smaller class sizes. The school board was considering reducing class size in other primary grades, but first needed current research on the poss ibilities and conse- quences of this action, as well as on similar efforts in other cities across the nation. The board wanted to know, in effect, if the benefits outweighed the costs. T HE BEST POLICY Alexander se ized the opportunity to work on this project. She was particularly interested because it concerned policy, an area of legal work in which she was ga ining interest. "The policy level is where the decis ions are made," she explains. "That's where the power to change things lies." Fortunately, Alexander was in the right place to explore this interest, Kalemkiarian notes, since USD's School of Law has one of the few child advocacy clinics in the nation that offe rs policy projects. Alexander didn't know when she accepted the miss ion, however, that her deadline was perilously close. She received the assignment and began active research in early February 1995, and the research report had to be presented to the school board on March 7, 1995. As her supervisor, Kalemkiarian helped Alexander focus her research efforts, and fac ilitated her early contacts with the school board president's office. "Sharon wanted to make sure that this was a serious undertaking and that I would ge t some- thing valuable out of it," Alexander says. Once established, Alexander was off and running. Starting with some outdated research, she began tracking down current work across the country using the education net- work on a computer at Copley Library. She talked to teachers and parents in the San Diego Unified School District, offici als at schoo ls with successful programs, representatives at the U.S. Department of Education and other national authorities.

Anne--Marie Alexander has been drawn to the study of law all her life. But along the way, she took a turn at teaching grade school and fell in love with the profession. She wanted somehow to combine her interest in law and her drive to serve school--age children. Alexander found the answer 1n the Child Advocacy Clinic at USD's School of Law.