Steve Barr to Speak at Caltech about Changing Los Angeles, School to School

PASADENA, Calif.-Steve Barr, founder of Green Dot Public Schools in Los Angeles, will present the third event of the 2005-2006 season of the Caltech Y Social Activism Speaker Series. His talk will take place on Thursday, November 17, at 8 p.m., in Beckman Institute auditorium on the Caltech campus, and is free and open to the public.

In his presentation, Barr will address the challenges facing Los Angeles and its schools, highlighting the strategies of Green Dot Public Schools for reforming high school education. He will also discuss proposals from the Small Schools Alliance.

Barr launched Green Dot Public Schools in 1999 with the vision of transforming secondary education in California by creating a number of high-performing charter high schools, using available public dollars. Under his leadership, Green Dot built one of the first comprehensive public high schools in the Los Angeles area in the last 30 years and now operates five high schools serving over 1,500 students.

Barr has also been active in politics throughout his professional career. In 1990 he cofounded the initiative Rock the Vote, which led the way to a major upward surge of voting in the U.S. by 18- to 24-year-olds.

This is the seventh year for the Social Activism Speaker Series, which focuses attention on current social and political issues by inviting prominent activists to share their experiences and perspectives with the Caltech community and the public. This student-run series is coordinated with the help of the Caltech Y, and is made possible by contributions from the Moore-Hufstedler Fund, the Administrative Committee on Diversity and Minority Affairs, Student Affairs, Campus Life, the Alumni Association, Jack and Edith Roberts, the Graduate Student Council, the Associated Students of Caltech, and the Caltech Y.

Other Social Activism Speaker Series events this season include poet Nikki Giovanni on February 9, 2006, and International Center on Nonviolent Conflict director Jack DuVall on May 11, 2006.

Beckman Institute auditorium is in the northwest part of the Caltech campus. Parking is available in the lots south of Del Mar Boulevard between Wilson and Chester avenues, and in the Wilson Avenue parking structures between San Pasqual Street and Del Mar Boulevard.

For more information, visit http://sass.caltech.edu or contact Greg Fletcher, Caltech Y, (626) 395-6163. ###

Media Contact: Deborah Williams-Hedges (626) 395-3227 debwms@caltech.edu

Visit the Caltech Media Relations Web site at: http://pr.caltech.edu/media