History of SEOC
From the Grassroots
SEOC emerged out of a
general community organizing campaign of the Community Building Support
Initiative (CBSI), an organizing program of the Housing & Community
Development Network of New Jersey. CBSI’s organizing reached 13
neighborhoods in six cities over a 10 year period (Newark, Jersey City,
Plainfield, Trenton, Camden, and Bridgeton).
By 2001 it became
clear that parents and
grassroots leaders in these cities wanted to build the foundation
for a statewide parent organizing effort around the quality of our
public education system. Further, the recent Abbott v
Burke NJ Supreme Court decisions mandated very
promising reforms for our schools, and parents and community leaders
wanted to build the foundation for a
grassroots constituency to press for their full implementation.
Following two annual statewide conferences of the
“CBSI Education Committee,” a new organization, the Statewide
Education Organizing Committee, SEOC, was formed in 2004 and
incorporated in 2005.
As we developed, we moved towards a chapter structure, which has enabled us to foster local leadership and build a stronger grassroots organization. We now have chapters in four cities - Newark, Jersey City, Asbury Park, and most recently, Paterson. We work on campaigns both at the chapter level and at the state level, as a unified force. We build all of our campaigns through a focus on the school-quality issues of greatest concern to the parents and community members we work with.
Our most recent development is that now parents and community people can officially join SEOC as members! Most SEOC members belong to one of our chapters, but we also have individual members who live in cities that don't yet have a chapter. These members, in our chapters and across the state, are the future of our organization.