[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 149 (2003), Part 12]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 16907-16908]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      IN HONOR OF VIRGINIA FRANCO

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. BOB FILNER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, June 26, 2003

  Mr. FILNER. Mr. Speaker and colleagues, I rise today to recognize and 
honor Virginia Franco on her retirement after 23 years as an elementary 
school teacher with the San Diego Unified School District. She may be 
retiring from teaching, but she is definitely not retiring as a 
community leader.
  Virginia was raised in Camarillo, CA. She was widowed while still a 
young woman, and came to San Diego in 1971. She began her liberal arts 
studies at San Diego State University, and it was there that I met her.
  Virginia has managed to combine her career as a dedicated teacher of 
second and third grade students and mother of three children with a 
second career as a San Diego Educators' Association (SDEA) union 
activist and community leader. Over the years, she has been involved in 
more causes and struggles than can be mentioned here. Among them are 
opposition to the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile, support for victims 
of the death squads in El Salvador, support for affirmative action, and 
participation in voter registration campaigns for new citizens.
  Virginia's activism continues to the present. As part of the Older 
Women's Project, she demonstrated against the invasion of Iraq. She is 
working with the San Diego labor movement to bring about a living wage 
ordinance for the city of San Diego. She is a leader in her labor 
union, the SDEA, having held the position of Human Rights Chair, an 
elected delegate to the NEA Representative Assembly in 2001, and is 
currently a member of the Political Involvement Committee.
  On the occasion of her retirement, Virginia wrote a farewell letter 
to the parents of her students. This letter expresses as well as anyone 
can the reasons she tries so hard to help create a better world.
  The letter reads:

       Dear Parents: Our last day is upon us at Clay Elementary 
     School. We, in Room 4, have been working hard to become 
     prepared for the challenges ahead. These few years, 
     particularly, have been trying times in news and heavily 
     concentrated in the area of education. For many of us, 
     working more hours to fulfill our responsibilities for our 
     children have become necessary. The world has entered our 
     homes in the news, and much of it is difficult for us to 
     understand. In our schools, we are wondering how our children 
     will fare with the problems that concern public education due 
     to difficult economic times in the state of California. Yet, 
     in spite of these extraordinary times, Room 4 students have 
     been working cooperatively to prepare for the difficult times 
     by doing their part as better readers and citizens in order 
     to meet those challenges.
       We have learned in reading that nonfiction literature--
     biography, science, and social studies--help us learn about 
     the past in order to understand the present in the hopes of 
     preparing for a better future. We learned that reading for 
     understanding of past and present history helps us prepare to 
     make those decisions. We are aware that this preparation will 
     help us work toward a time, seemingly far away, but 
     necessary, in order to preserve better conditions of life for 
     our families, our communities, and possibly for those whom we 
     don't know in other parts of the world.
       Our world needs fixing. By reading about the environment, 
     we learned that many studies are possible to help us prepare 
     for knowledge and understanding about pollution and saving 
     our natural resources. Careers in science and math will be 
     necessary for making changes in these areas of studies. We 
     are beginning to understand that it is of great importance to 
     understand the present, in the hopes of affecting the future 
     in positive ways. Social and environmental studies will help 
     us to fix and create that better world.
       We learned about early America and the struggles to build 
     it. It took many kinds of citizens to change it for the 
     better. We also learned that connection with other countries 
     remains necessary to strengthen what we share now. Citizens 
     here in America from all over the world are helping to enrich 
     our way of life in their sharing of their cultures. Our 
     students know that it is their job to continue their efforts 
     to become those good, creative, and knowledgeable students to 
     prepare for the challenges ahead.
       Thank you for your part in seeing that your child continues 
     to prepare to become that responsible citizen that you and I 
     hope will contribute to our community. I have been 
     privileged, hopefully, to help chart that course. It is 
     especially meaningful for me this year of my retirement.
       I look optimistically forward to your child's educational 
     success in the future.
           Most Sincerely,
                                                  Virginia Franco,
                                                3rd Grade Teacher.

  This letter speaks to her commitment to the children she is teaching 
and to the larger community. Our world would be a better place if

[[Page 16908]]

we all were as dedicated as Virginia. As she retires, I want to 
acknowledge a woman of conviction, dedicated both to her love of 
teaching and to her belief in the importance of individuals working to 
make a difference in this world.
  My best wishes go to my good friend, Virginia Franco.

                          ____________________